Borges draws inspiration from ‘Five Rings’ tattoo
Matheus Borges had his arm tattooed with the ‘Five Rings’ even before Rio de Janeiro won the bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games.
Simply because it was his dream to play hockey in the Olympics.
And even though the International Hockey Federation (FIH) did not allow Brazil to earn an automatic spot, the World 27 still made the grade through a qualifier.
Brazil, with 10 Olympians on their side, will open their FIH Series Finals campaign against World No 13 Malaysia on Friday in Bukit Jalil.
“We went through a qualifier for the Rio Olympics even though we were the hosts. It was because our ranking was low.
“Now, we want another shot at the Olympics in Tokyo and if it means beating Malaysia, so be it,” said the 25-year old.
Borges’ dream to play in the Olympics drove him to play outside his country.
“Even before Rio won the Olympic bid, I already had the ‘Five Rings’ tattooed on my arm to inspire me every time I played hockey. And it was a dream come true when we won the special qualifier arranged by the FIH.
“Playing in the Olympics opened my mind. It was a bewildering experience and even though we ended last among 12 teams, it was worth every moment being on the playing pitch and Olympics Village.
“And now, we want to play in Tokyo,” said Borges.
Borges will earn his 101st cap against Malaysia on Friday.
“I think this is the second time both of us will be playing. We played in 2015 when Malaysia were in Europe for a tournament and we were preparing for the Olympics.
“Malaysia came back strongly in the final moments and won 32. However, we expect them to come at us very hard at home, but we hate to lose!” Borges added.
Malaysia cannot afford to drop points against Brazil if they hope to play in the final of the Series Finals.
Brazil have five players who ply their trade in Europe, and even though they lost 3-2 to UiTM in a friendly on Friday, nothing should be read from this warmup.
For the record, Malaysia’s last Olympic appearance was in Sydney in 2000.