Nothing romantic about France’s status in the World Cup

KUALA LUMPUR: France are the kings of football after their World Cup triumph in July.

But in hockey, they are minnows through and through. The French are the lowest-ranked team in the hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar, India, starting on Wednesday.

France, ranked 20th in the world, are making a return to the World Cup after a 28-year absence.

France last featured in the World Cup in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1990 and finished seventh among 12 nations.

This will be only their third appearance in the World Cup. France featured in the inaugural World Cup in Barcelona in 1971 where they finished seventh.

France, parading a talented young side in Bhubaneswar, have made commendable progress in the last few years.

They finished a creditable seventh at the World League Semi-Final in Johannesburg after qualifying for the event with a second-spot finish at the Round Two tournament in Belfast last year.

In the World Cup, France are drawn in Group A with reigning Olympic champions Argentina, New Zealand and Spain.

France coach Jeroen Delmee (pic), a double Olympic gold medallist with Holland, believes his side are capable of closing the gap on theheavy weights.

“We have a young team eager to impress in

their first World Cup,” said Delmee.

“To prepare for the World Cup, we played a total of 15 matches against Holland, Germany, Ireland and Canada.

“Since September, we’ve been training from Monday to Wednesday as two groups – one based in Brussels and the other in Paris.

“In October, we started our final preparations for India with matches against England, where we came away with one win and one defeat.

“We then had a good series against South Africa, winning three matches and losing just one. Finally, we played Belgium, losing twice.

France will be led by towering defender and penalty corner expert Victor Charlet, who is a goal-scoring threat from penalty corners.