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Argentina's celebrations initially seemed like one of sheer joy at pulling off an impressive defensive effort but their head coach Juan Gilardi later revealed there was more to it than met the eye. (Photo Credit: Hockey India)
It was a thrilling win for Argentina against one of the game’s powerhouses, the Netherlands, in the quarterfinals at the FIH Junior World Cup in Chennai on Friday. Just one goal – Captain Tomas Ruiz’s 52nd-minute effort from a Penalty Corner – was enough for Argentina to eliminate one of the pre-tournament favourites. Argentina’s celebrations initially seemed like one of sheer joy at pulling off an impressive defensive effort but their head coach Juan Gilardi later revealed there was more to it than met the eye. That his wards were triggered by an article on a Dutch website, which they found ‘discriminatory’.
“It’s a shame because the official site of the Dutch team was talking about some discrimination, some things about the Argentinian players. That was a kind of fuel for us to win this match also,” Gilardi said in the mixed zone after Argentina reached the semifinals.
When asked to elaborate, Gilardi said: “You have to check hockey.nl website, you have to see what is written there. It’s not nice. You will understand, It is not nice in this kind of age that people talk about this kind of discriminatory things with the Argentine players. It’s not nice because we respect the other players too, and I think it should not happen from the official site.”
Turns out the article he was referring to was headlined: Argentinians covered in tattoos: ‘It’s great to play against those guys’. Inside the article that was written before the quarterfinal, the intro read: “The World Cup quarterfinal features a diverse group of tattooed players. They’re also not afraid to commit nasty fouls at this World Cup. The quarterfinal promises to be a clash of two styles: the blond Dutch hockey players – a strong collective at this World Cup – versus the brazen Argentinian bravado.”
Gijs ter Braak, one of the Dutch players, is quoted as saying: “These are completely different types of players than we’re used to in the Netherlands.” He then adds: “They’re truly playing with heart. With bluffing, but I actually like that. It’s fantastic to play against a South American team.” But the article itself then goes on to describe multiple fouls committed by Argentine players earlier in the tournament. “Let’s be clear: the Dutch U21s won’t be playing against a bunch of choirboys in the quarterfinals.” There is a section of the article also dedicated to tattoos of one of the Argentine player.
“We played like… with a little bit of angry (anger). They should respect other teams. I hope there will be some kind of apology for that,” Gilardi added.
It is worth noting that hockey.nl is the media wing of the official Dutch hockey federation. The website carries the disclaimer: “Hockey.nl and OranjeHockey are publications of the KNHB. However, the opinions expressed on the Platforms should not be considered the official views of the KNHB, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Dutch law applies to the Platforms and this disclaimer.”
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About the tactics that brought about the win, the Argentine coach said it was a case of best laid plan coming to fruition. “We know that they have a really good technique, they are fast players, controlling the whole game, they like to attack a lot and so we try to plan to be more compact today and try to play more compact and I think it finally works. We were more confident today in our defense, our structure, our keeper, and we knew that maybe we only have two or three chances to score, and that’s it. We have a good aggression today and we won.”
Vinayakk Mohanarangan is Senior Assistant Editor and is based in New Delhi. ... Read More
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