BHUBANESWAR: Last edition runners-up the Netherlands is the first overseas team to land here on Wednesday for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup to be held at Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from January 13 to 29. The former champions are placed in Pool C, along with Chile, Malaysia and New Zealand.
The Netherlands, led by Thierry Brinkman, will complete their final preparations in Bhubaneswar before travelling to Rourkela on January 10, where they will face Malaysia in their first match on January 14.
“This is relatively a young team.
Many members of our team is going to make their World Cup debut here. I think we will have to take one game at a time and then we will see where we end up in the tournament. Our first target is to reach the quarterfinals and then advance to the semis. We will then see how things go for the final. Of course, if we reach the final then we will hope to turn it around and win the tournament,” said coach Jeroen Delmee.