Minnows France are no pushovers at the World Cup

THE Malaysian hockey team can learn a thing or two from the dedicated French team.

France are the lowest ranked team in the hockey World Cup and don’t have professional players.

But the world No. 20 ranked French team, who are featuring in their third World Cup, showcased an excellent game of hockey and played with pride.

They proved that they can match any top team in the world by giving a good fight to world No. 7 New Zealand before going down 2-1 in their first Group A match.

In their second match against world No. 10 Spain, France took the lead before Spain equalised.

France had the golden chance to upset Spain as they were awarded a penalty stroke in the fourth quarter.

Hugo Geneset stepped up to take the stroke to give his country full points but his high flick was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Quico Cortes.

France are coached by Jeroen Delmee, a double Olympic gold medallist with Holland in the 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Delmee, who became the France national team head coach in November last year, said it is a challenge for him to help the team play well against others in their group.

“Hockey is not a popular sport in France and we don’t have a large number of hockey players like in India or in Spain. We have a few players who are students who use their own money to play the game,” said Delmee.

“But I am pleased that we are making progress in the World Cup as we play as a unit to give a strong challenge against top teams such as New Zealand and Spain.”

Delmee added that in preparation for the World Cup, they played 15 international matches.

“We have one point and we will go all out to give our best against Olympics champions Argentina in our last group match.

“It will be tough but possible,” said Delmee.

“We are ranked 20th in the world and we hope to break into the top 10 in a year’s time. We also hope to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.”