Juan Escarre says that anything can happen during the FIH Mens Hockey World Cup 2023 in Odisha . Spain won silver medal in 1998 World Cup and played in the final against the Netherlands .
New Delhi, India, November 14: Juan Escarre, a Spanish hockey legend, said on Monday that anything can happen during the FIH Mens Hockey World Cup 2023 in Odisha, and that hosts India has also a chance to win the tournament.Escarre said that the World Cup is doable because he recently toured Bhubaneswar with the Spain Mens Team for the FIH Hockey Pro League 202223 matches against India and New Zealand.Australia, Belgium, Netherlands, India, Argentina, Germany, New Zealand, England, France, Korea, Malaysia, Spain, South Africa, Japan, Chile, and Wales are the 16 teams competing in the FIH Odisha Hockey Mens World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela from January 13 to 29.You'll always find a very good German team in the world rankings, especially Belgium and Australia.
And the Netherlands and Spain are also being mentioned.But, you never know, anything is possible in this sort of tournament, he said in a press release from Hockey India.Escarre also hinted at Spains chances of making it to the knockout round of the tournament.We will have the first match against India, followed by Wales and England. The system was notoriously difficult during my career, you have to be in the top six teams and advance straight to the Semi-Final or play 5-8.We will see, we are trying our best and we will try to make it happen, according to the Assistant Coach.Escarre reflected on his Silver medal-winning finish in the 1998 World Cup and Spain's exciting match against the Netherlands while he was in charge.In the group stage, the Spanish team, led by Joaquim Malgosa, remained unbeaten, finishing second in Pool B of the 1998 Mens Hockey World Cup with four victories and a draw. In the Final, I was hospitalized.I remember the first two goals, I was hospitalized, and then we lost.When I travel to the Netherlands, they thank me and say they won the world cup because of my injury, according to Escarre, who scored three goals in the tournament.Ex midfielder, who is now an Assistant Coach with the Spain national team, recalled playing in the final against a good Dutch team in front of 30,000 fans in 1998. I can recall the phrase National Anthem vividly.The entire stadium was painted orange, and there were only a few red shirts in the corner.But, it's 11 against 11.There is nothing else in the world. Spain lost to the Netherlands in the Final at the 1996 Olympic Games, too, to finish in second place.Speaking of Spain's rivalry with the Netherlands, the Spaniard said, They are one of the finest teams I ever played against.I can still remember all the names.We lost on almost all occasions we have played against them. We had opportunities in the Atlanta Olympics Final, we started scoring, and we had our chances in the world cup, but it was too much for us.Escarre was regarded as one of Spain's best midfielders of his time and had a long and prolific career, making up to 256 appearances.He competed in the Sydney 2000 Olympics and led the team to a fourth-place finish at the Athens 2004 Olympics.Spain claimed the 2004 Champions Trophy in Lahore, Pakistan, under his captaincy. When asked about his illustrative career, he said, I started playing with the senior team at my club in Alicante when I was 13 years old.When you're playing with a senior team, you need to learn to pass the ball as efficiently as possible.I feel like I was lucky in that I had to learn everything in my career, and that all of these experiences helped me to be a highly versatile player.For me, either midfield or forward, the two are the same. It's difficult to find a midfielder playing forward or a forward in midfield.