The pool stages of the Men’s hockey at the Olympic Games are done and dusted. Although my day job has become absolutely hectic covering the Olympics I’ve managed to watch pretty much every game.
I’ve moved away from writing match reports and the like because you can get those elsewhere and I’m not sure you’d read them anyway. So instead I like to put together things that have caught my eye and piqued my interest. These pieces will largely be Great Britain focused because that’s where the majority of my audience are from and that’s where the majority of my knowledge is. I will however drop in things from other parts of the tournament and other teams, too.
So here we go.
Great Britain.
So far so good for Paul Revington’s side.
Great Britain’s men have secured their place in the quarter finals with wins over Spain and France, draws against South Africa and Netherlands and a loss to Germany.
Overall, they will be pleased with how it’s gone – their first objective has been achieved but they will want to go all the way to the medal matches, so won’t be patting themselves on the back just yet.
Something that’s characterised their campaign so far is their ability and willingness to come from behind to pick up points. They did so against South Africa, they did so against the world number one, the Netherlands and they did so against France. Undoubtedly that sort of character and ability to dig deep is very handy indeed, especially in a tournament environment. What I would say is that they will be very keen to remove the need to keep doing that. No doubt it’s a great strength to have, but sooner or later you will come up against a side who takes the lead and doesn’t let you back in the game. That’s what happened in their final pool match against Germany. They almost pulled it off and might feel hard done by when Lee Morton’s equaliser was ruled out, but perhaps that will give them pause for thought. Revington and his coaching staff will be working hard to ensure Great Britain don’t need to use their never-say-die attitude in the knockouts when they face India.
Played them off the Park.
Nick Park had never scored for Great Britain until the first match of the Olympics. At the risk of sounding like a cliché, what a way to open your account!
GB were under the cosh a little bit until Park nicked the ball, skinned a defender and then calmly lifted the ball over the goalkeeper for an absolutely stunning goal. This was a goal so good I had people from work who don’t follow hockey telling me what a great goal it was.
Lee Morton shows what Amsterdam are getting.
Whilst we’re on the subject of cracking goals, Scotland star Lee Morton has signed on the dotted line to play his club hockey for Amsterdam next season. The Dutch got a glimpse of what he’s all about as he bagged two beautiful goals in the 2-2 draw between the teams.
Revington loves a goal.
Not an especially insightful point, but I love how much the head coach Paul Revington celebrates when Great Britain score. Sport is becoming more and more robotic, so seeing someone clearly loving what his side is capable of is brilliant to see.
Da iawn, Cymru.
Wales had three players play for Great Britain men at an Olympics between 2000 and 2020: David Hacker in 2000 and Rupert Shipperley and Jacob Draper in 2020. To have three players in one squad this time around shows the strides they are making. And even better, they’ve been making key contributions. Jacob Draper has been, well, Jacob Draper – class and consistent, Rupert Shipperley has bagged a couple of goals and so has Gareth Furlong. Tidy.
A few thoughts from the rest of the teams:
Just do it.
Nike sticks have made their first appearance. Duco Telgenkamp and Christopher Ruhr are the players using those sticks so far. I know the stick experts among you will tell me they’re made from a mould used by another brand in the same factory as the other brands and it’s just had a Nike logo put onto it, but regardless, Nike possibly making a move into the hockey market is interesting and potentially big news.
Welcome back.
On the topic of Christopher Ruhr, it’s a great story to see him out there playing in the Olympics. Back in January he tore his ACL and to be honest, most people, probably even Ruhr himself thought that was it as far as the Olympic Games was concerned. However through rehab, treatment and not a small amount of determination he’s made it. To see him out there was great. Even if he did score a couple against Great Britain. The scoundrel.
Set piece success.
I said before the tournament began that set pieces will play a big part in the difference between success and failure. Not exactly a hot take, but that’s certainly proved to be the case.
I don’t think Australia have hit the form they’d like to (that’s putting it politely) and yet thanks to the goals of Blake Govers (7 goals, three from PCs) they’ve made it through to the quarter finals.
The same with India – they’ve picked up some good results but I think they’ve been far away from what they’re capable of. It’s felt to me they’ve played within themselves and not fully used the wealth of attacking talent at their disposal. And yet, thanks in no small part to Harmanpreet Singh’s goals (six goals, three PCs, three penalty strokes) they’re right in the mix for the medal matches. Will we see them unleash what they’re capable of when they face Great Britain?
Belgium look strong.
Four wins from five, with one draw is one thing but the way they battered Australia was worrying for everyone else. I know the Aussies will point to the stats and say they tell a different story to the score line, but however you dress it up, that is a result that would make the other teams sit up and take notice.
I’m a big believer in momentum in big tournaments. The more games you win, the more confident you get the more you believe you can’t lose. Belgium are a big danger because they are on that sort of a roll and they have the experience of players who’ve been there and done it. They could be a very good bet to pick up another title.
Bitter sweet goalkeeper displays.
In real time and in the moment, Arthur Thieffry’s performance against Great Britain was pretty annoying. Seeing him repel everything our team could throw at him was getting pretty frustrating and pretty worrying. Luckily, Great Britain managed to turn it around and so I was able to look back with hindsight and enjoy a goalkeeper having “one of those games” without the annoyance of GB dropping points. He was the talk of my office with all the non-hockey fans marvelling at how he managed to keep the score down and me telling them we use the same kit, in a desperate attempt to make my colleagues think I’m good at hockey.
Fierce Competition.
Coming into the tournament a lot of the talk was around how a large number of teams could realistically have a genuine chance at winning a medal. That’s proved to be the case and the results show nothing is a given in this tournament:
Great Britain beat Spain, Spain beat Germany, Germany beat Great Britain. Belgium hammer Australia, Belgium beat India, India beat Australia, Argentina draw with India and Belgium, Australia beat Argentina.
The quarter finals will hopefully be exciting and unpredictable – and we only have to wait till tomorrow to see them!
The Top of the D 