“Today’s hockey is speeding up for 60 minutes”

Whistling, the Dutch hockey team went through the group stage of the World Cup in India last week. Malaysia, New Zealand and Chile did not offer serious opposition. With a goal difference of 22-0, Orange qualified directly for the quarter-finals against Argentina or South Korea on Wednesday. The pinnacle of men’s hockey may be stronger and wider than when the last world title was won in 1998, but there is still a huge gap between the top eight, nine countries and the rest.

National coach Jeroen Delmée therefore did not know if it was good news, a group stage without a major opponent. Now his team has not once been seriously tested for the crucial quarter-final. “If you lose it, then emotionally everything has failed. If you’re in the semi-finals with a brand new team in the first major tournament, you’ve made it.

game of moments

This genre do or dieMen’s hockey competitions have often been decided on details over the past five years, knows Delmée, who became Olympic champion twice in 1996 and 2000 and won the world title at the Galgenwaard in Utrecht in the meantime. “Hockey has increasingly become a game of moments. In my day, you had three good teams. There are now eight of them, all of which are well organized. It is now a moment of disorganization for the opponent, but also of details like avoiding a late yellow card, daring to ask for the video dismissal, or simply getting that penalty corner. Moments like this determine how far you will go at the World Cup.

Delmée appointed Thierry Brinkman as the new captain when he arrived a year and a half ago. “I like someone who dares to express their opinion. Although that shouldn’t change you either. I was allowed to wear it myself for a while, a strap is a strap.

Brinkman (27) has played 143 international matches, scored sixty goals. As long as he is with the Dutch team, he is faced with the fact that no world prize has been won for so long. Precisely because his father Jacques was an important player in this golden period.

Inexperienced but eager group

Brinkman junior understands how it works. “The longer it takes, the more unique this achievement. The only question is whether it says anything about this generation or ours. Six players in this group weren’t even born in the 1998 World Cup. They literally can’t do anything with it. And it got harder. But of course, I want to become world champion or Olympic champion one day. This remains my wish and my objective for the years to come.

Brinkman has never played in such an inexperienced Orange. “But we have a group with good characters. Greedy and eager to learn. When our mindset and energy are good, we can be hard to beat. We need to talk about it now. Other countries are growing together.

He takes Belgium as an example. “Years ago, a dream was born in this team and everything had to make way for it. Straight ahead, unyielding towards that goal. They became favorites for major titles and delivered. In 2018, Belgium won the World Cup in India, after a penalty shootout in the final against the Netherlands. Three years later in Tokyo it went gold, again after penalties. “Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence. Not that you have to copy the Belgians, but what you bring out, the gestures, the collective. These are things on which Delmée insists.

No mutual blame

Hockey is one sprint gamehas become, explains Brinkman. Accelerate to top gear for sixty minutes. “The delay does not exist”, assures the attacker. Unlike at the end of the last century, for example. “Due to the continuous exchange, everything happens at the highest intensity and you are constantly challenged. Every detail counts. That makes it very appealing.

The actual position of the Netherlands will be revealed next week. Delmée has made serious progress since taking office. “You think there’s potential in all these new players, but how far would that stretch? I had no idea. And the players I saw as the new faces of the team Dutch national will pick up that gauntlet? I’m positive about that. We have a flat organization. The boys don’t fall back on blaming each other, but get to work as a group. It was really needed after Tokyo.

There, the Netherlands were painfully eliminated in the quarter-finals. “I think we are now close to the top of the world. But this is their first major tournament for most, so we don’t know yet.

In any case, the coach sees that this is not a theme, this long period without a big prize. “But I think that was too long ago. We’re just not in the role of favorites yet. It all starts with this quarter-final on Wednesday. “It’s the competition.