With less than 100 days till the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Hockey World Cup Bhubaneswar-Rourkela 2023, Spanish hockey legend Juan Escarre thought back on his silver medal-winning performance at the 1998 World Cup and Spain’s thrilling rivalry with the Netherlands at the time.
The Joaquim Malgosa-led Spanish team finished second in Pool B of the 1998 Men’s Hockey World Cup with four victories and a draw. The Spanish squad went undefeated in the group stage. They later defeated Germany 3-0 in the semifinals before losing to the Netherlands 2-3 to take home the silver medal.
“I got injured in the final. I remember, we scored the first two goals, I got injured and then we lost. Every time I go to the Netherlands, they thank me and say because of my injury they won the world cup,” Juan Escarre, who scored three goals in the tournament, said.
The former midfielder, who is currently serving as an assistant coach with the Spain national team, remembers playing in the 1998 World Cup final in front of 30,000 spectators against a formidable Dutch team.
“There were around 30,000 people watching us play in the final against the host Netherlands. I remember perfectly the moment of the national anthem. The entire stadium was covered in orange colour and there were only some red shirts in the corner.”
“But, it’s 11 against 11. There is nothing else. When you play in international tournaments, you know this feeling, and you have to do the same work whether the crowd is against you or supporting you,” he added.
At the 1996 Olympic Games also, Spain lost to the Netherlands in the final to settle for second place. Speaking about Spain’s rivalry with the Netherlands, the Spaniard stated, “They are one of the best teams I ever played against. I still remember all the names. We lost on almost all the occasions we have played against them. Just before the World Cup, we played some friendly matches and we lost 6-1, 6-0 to them. We had chances in the final at the Atlanta Olympics, we started scoring, in the World Cup we also had our chances, but it was too much for us.”
Escarre, who was regarded as one of the best midfielders of his era, had a lengthy and illustrious career for Spain, making up to 256 games. He competed in the Sydney 2000 Olympics and helped his team place fourth in Athens in 2004. Spain won the 2004 Champions Trophy, which was played in Lahore, Pakistan, under his captaincy. Additionally, he was a member of the 2005 European Hockey Championship winning squad.
When asked about his illustrative career, he said, “I started playing with the senior team at my club in Alicante when I was 13. When you are playing with a senior team, you need to learn to pass the ball as fast as possible. I feel like I was lucky that in my career I had to learn everything, and all these things helped me become a versatile player. Forward or midfield, both are the same for me.”
“But, now it has changed, players are more specialists. It is very difficult to find a midfielder playing forward or a forward playing in midfield,” he added.
At the World Cup, anything is possible
Anything is conceivable at the World Cup, according to Escarre, who recently travelled to Bhubaneswar with the Spain team for the FIH Hockey Pro League 2022/23 matches against India and New Zealand.
In January, 16 teams from Australia, Belgium, Netherlands, India, Argentina, Germany, New Zealand, England, France, Korea, Malaysia, Spain, South Africa, Japan, Chile, and Wales will compete in the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela.
“If you see the world rankings- Belgium, Australia and you will always find a very good German team. Of course, India also, I think they have a chance. And, the Netherlands and Spain as well. But, you never know, anything is possible in this kind of tournament,” he said.
Escarre further opened up on Spain’s chances of making it to the knockout round of the tournament.
“We will have the first match with India, and then Wales and England. Then, you have to cross with another group, and with two good matches, you are in the semifinal. During my time, the system was very difficult, you have to be on the top of six teams and straight to semifinal or from there play 5-8 placing. We will see, we are working to give our best and we will try to win it,” the assistant coach signed off.
Prasanta Patnaik