With just one day to go for the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Malaysia 2023, the coaches have spoken to express their expectations from the event and what their teams will be aiming to achieve over the next two weeks.
CR Kumar, Coach (IND)
“Malaysia is a unique place, and it is also one of India’s favourite venues. We have won many competitions here, and we always receive a warm welcome from our Indian fans, who come in large numbers to support us. We are determined to bring the trophy back home to India. Our team has been working tirelessly for the past two years in preparation for this tournament. Now that we are here, we will spare no effort to achieve our goal. Our motto is ‘To be the best, beat the best,’ and we are all working together towards that end.”
Rein Van Eijk, Coach (GER)
“We are very excited to be playing at a junior World Cup in Malaysia! The Bukit Jalil Hockey stadium is a legendary stadium where German teams have been successful in the past. After having played here a month ago, at the Sultan of Johor Cup, we have experienced the warm-hearted Malaysian people, their culture, and the way the Malaysian people are enthusiastic about hockey. The tournament looks to be very thrilling, with many good teams participating. We hope to see ourselves amongst the favourites and want to entertain the hockey fans with our way of playing.
Guillermo Hainaut, Captain (BEL)
“It's a special feeling to play in Malaysia. The stadium is huge. As a hockey player, it's always great to play in this kind of stadium. Our objective for this tournament is to grow from match to match and try to perform at our highest level at the right time. We also want to create a real team and show everyone our true values. The sporting result is the most important thing, but so is everything else. To all our fans, whether you're at home or in the stadium , we need your support to help us go as far as we can to achieve our goals. Don't hesitate to send us messages or tag us in stories, and above all show us that you're behind us, and we'll give it back to you on the pitch.”
Jay Stacy, Coach (AUS)
“Our preparations have been good, I think we are in the same position as the 15 other teams. They all come in with the same objectives and ambitions and our first focus is on the matches in the group. We are in a pretty good position but we need to bring that preparation and exciting play to our matches ”
Sebasitan Wolansky, Captain (CHI)
“I want to play in a packed stadium and am very excited for our opening match vs Malaysia. The team is better prepared than the previous FIH Junior World Cup. The team is a young team and we are like a family.”
Jesse Mahieu, Coach (NED)
“We are enjoying the venue and the environment here. We won the Europeans but that doesn’t mean we are the favourites here and as you have mentioned, we have never won a FIH Junior World Cup. We are a new team and are one of the outsiders. Of course, we can win it but there are a lot of other teams that have the same ambition and talent in the group. It will be a tough fight and we are picking up the challenge and see how far we can go. But, obviously, our big dream is to win the FIH Junior World Cup. ”
Jang Young, Coach (KOR)
“10 days before the start of the FIH Junior World Cup, we had a training camp. Our objective of the tournament is to qualify for at least the Quarters.”
Juan Giladri, Coach (ARG)
“The atmosphere in the stadium is nice and the guys are going to love to play in this tournament. We have five players who played in the previous World Cup, but 75 percent of the team doesn’t have experience. But we won’t complain about that and we have planned for two years and we will play our best. ”
Guy Elliott, Coach (RSA)
“We will take it one game at a time and our first focus is on playing Germany and then Egypt and then France. Looking to make sure that we put in good performances. If we start thinking too much ahead then we forget about now. It is about doing the little things right and the results will take care of itself.”
Mathias Dierckens, Coach (FRA)
“It feels great to play in Malaysia. The facilities are fantastic and we know there is a big base of enthusiastic hockey fans here. So we’re really expecting a great atmosphere around the games of the tournament. Our objective is to proceed game after game. Of course we want to get to the quarter finals and beyond but before that we want to respect every opponent and deliver our best performance at each game.”
Hudson Loh, Captain (CAN)
“Our objective is to compete in every game and show what Hockey is all about. As a group, we aim to get the highest finish that Canada has ever got in a FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup. Playing Kuala Lumpur will be special as they love Hockey and it will be great to play in front of passionate Hockey fans.”
Aaron Ford, Coach (NZL)
“The stadium is awesome. We had a really good warm-up game against France. The temperature is a bit hotter than we are used to, but we have a lot of evening games which is a good thing for us. Really looking forward to the tournament now.”
Amin Rahim, Coach (MAS)
"My players were made to understand this situation, and they are now better prepared to play consistently for 60 minutes. And consistency is what will win us the first match against Chile, after which we will take one match at a time. Yes, it's our stadium, our weather, our food, and our fans, so we must use this to our advantage to win all our group matches. No excuses, as I believe my players can qualify for the next stage (quarter-finals)"
Roelant Oltman, Coach (PAK)
“We are looking forward to playing here and we all understand our position. All we can do is gear up and show the world that Pakistan Hockey is rising again. We are in a strong group and we know it won’t be easy to make it to the quarters but we would love to qualify for the quarters.”
Moustafa Khalil, Coach (EGY)
“A good number of our players have experience from the previous junior world cup, and our preparation this time has been really good. We hope to perform really well and make our country proud and have the Egyptian flag flying high in this tournament.”
Uri Torras, Coach (ESP)
“I see the team very motivated and happy with the challenge ahead of us. It is a special event for everyone and now that it is so close, those nerves of wanting to do a good job and play our best hockey are palpable.”
The 13th edition of FIH’s flagship event for junior men will be played from 5 to 16 December in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. All information about the tournament is available here.
