The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
From ‘tricky opponents’ to Olympic gold medallists, the Lions can be kings
BOOM TIME
Gonzalopeillatfelthispulsequicken,ashe made his way through the by-lanes of Buenos Aires. He had spent most of his life walking the streets undisturbed. Not this time. He felt the presence of a group of unknown people following him. Till not long ago, he'd been just an ordinary guy, hoping to enjoy a casual stroll in the evening. But to his chasers that day a few months ago, he was the top-scorer during Argentina’s historic hockey gold medal at the Rio Olympics. They wouldn’t let Peillat move any further.
“They all know us on the streets and airports now. Everybody wants to say ‘hi.’ They ask for autographs and photographs. It’s a bit difficult because it’s new,” says the 24-yearold, who is currently a part of the UP Wizards team in the HIL.
Peillat’steammateinthenationalteamand HIL, Agustin Mazzilli, who scored in the final against Belgium, recalls his own moments of street-fame. He remembers being sought afterforphotographsbywomen,plantinginhim anideathatperhapsitwasbecauseofhislooks. “Turns out they’re all hockey players. Upcominglionesses(nationalwomen’steam). Theyknewwhowewereandwhatwe’dwon,” says Mazzilli. The adulation was of a degree no Argentinianhockeyplayerhasreceivedbefore, especially since the sport is down the pecking orderwhenitcomestopopularityinthecountry. “It was crazy. Almost as if we were footballers,” Mazzilli chuckles.
But in a continent where sport is dominated by football, the fanfare would die down quickly. Despite Argentina developing its own footholdinhockey,theclosestcountrieswhere they could find world-class sparring partners isineurope.it’safactthatdroveallthenational playerstotravelthedistanceandplayforclubs ineurope.ironically,theexoduswasthereason they won at Rio.
“Most of us play in Germany, Belgium or the Netherlands in clubs that have other big European players. We play with them daily, andweknowtheirstrengthsandweaknesses. That was good experience for us to plan our matches,” explains Manuel Burnet, who plays for Royal Daring in Belgium, but is currently withthedelhiwaveriders.peillatinturn,plays for Mannheim in Germany and Mazzilli in the Netherlands, for Oranje-rood. The trio is the only Argentines featuring in the HIL this year. Incidentally, not many Argentines got the call up for the HIL, disallowing them the chance to studytheirindianopponentsfromcloserquarters. At Rio, Argentina’s only defeat came againstindia.withtheentirecoregroupbased in Europe, it made no sense to make players travel the 7000 miles to South America for the national camp. “The support staff and our coachwouldcometoeuropeinsteadandwe’d trainthere,”addsthe31-year-old.inthebuildup to the Olympics, Argentina held three national camps in Spain, followed by one in Belgium and a final one in the Netherlands.
Not just a tricky opponent
At that time, the team had been propelled from minnows of the game, to ‘tricky’ opponents capable of pulling off an upset or two. Yetmoresobecauseofthedominanceoftheir women’s team – winners of a record seven Championstrophytitles,twoworldcupsand two silver and two bronze Olympic medals.
For the men’s team, the first sign of the rise wasatthe2014worldcupwheretheyfinished as surprise bronze medallists – Peillat again finished as top scorer in the tournament.
Theolympics,however,isawholenewball game and not many would have predicted an Argentina win. And at Rio, the Lions – as the team is called – had set realistic goals as well. “Our aim was to get to the semi-finals. When we did, we had to play defending champions Germany,” says Mazzilli. “But when we went 5-0 up, that was when we first started to believe that we could do this. That we could actually win the gold.” It was quite unlike the Footballworldcup-whereargentinianhearts were broken by the Germans.the fanfare followed the group of 16 from the Olympic Hockey Centre in Rio to home. Previously, despite the limited government funding and the federation’s push (which has increased since the win), hockey hadn’t received much attention. Now the gold-medallists were being paradedaroundthecapital,travellingfromnewsrooms to radio stations – explaining their journey of Olympic success.
“Therewerespecialshows,someairedduring prime time,” Brunet mentions of the gold medal - one of only 3 the South American nationwon(apartfromjudoandsailing).theveteran is among the few players who are not from Buenos Aires. He comes from a smaller city called Rosario - Lionel Messi’s hometown. For a while, Brunet remembers hearing his own name being chanted as one of the city’s favourite sons. “It seems all big players come from Rosario,” he jokes.
At the moment, world hockey’s Olympic champions come from Argentina. And their playershaveleftanimpressionupontheirfans in the most telling way possible – the most Argentinianway.“towintheolympicsinbrazil of all places certainly leaves a mark,” Mazzilli asserts.