The FIH Hockey Pro League will continue this weekend with double headers taking place at the Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre in London, where hosts Great Britain will entertain Spain men and USA women on both Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 May.
For the men and women of Great Britain, the fixtures are a chance to continue ramping up preparations for the upcoming Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, where GB’s women will be aiming to defend the Olympic title that they claimed at Rio 2016, while GB men target a first Olympic gold medal since Seoul 1988. Spain men are also preparing for an Olympic challenge, with success at next month’s European Championships in Amsterdam – where various GB players will be representing the individual nations that make up Great Britain – also being a major goal for the team coached by former France international Fred Soyez.
In a change to the original schedule, on both Saturday and Sunday the action at Lee Valley will begin with Great Britain’s men doing battle with Spain’s always entertaining Red Sticks team (please new match times below). Having claimed a maximum six points from their two matches against a below strength Germany last week, Danny Kerry’s GB team should come into the contest in confident mood. Defender David Ames produced a Player of the Match performance in their second game against Die Honamas, with Chris Griffiths, Phil Roper and Zach Wallace also impressing.
GB men currently sit sixth in the FIH Hockey Pro League standings with three wins from ten matches played, giving them a points percentage of 36.67. Spain’s two wins from ten matches sees them sitting bottom of the table with a 23.33 points percentage, but maximum points thisl weekend would drastically aid their climb up the ladder. With the likes of Pau Quemada, Enrique Gonzales, David Alegre and Xavi Lleonart all named in Soyez’s squad for the trip to London, they have more than enough attacking prowess to secure positive results against the Brits on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Match two on both days will see Great Britain women going head-to-head with USA, a team that journeys to London on the back of a brace of FIH Hockey Pro League defeats at the hands of Belgium in Antwerp last weekend. Head coach Anthony Farry is very much at the start of the rebuilding process with this young and inexperienced American team, and the fixtures against the Red Panthers will have provided the Australian tactician with plenty of learnings about a group that included six international debutants.
It goes without saying that USA are at the start of a long journey of evolution, but with Farry – the man who guided Japan’s women to the Asian Games title in 2018 - at the helm, you can be sure that the group will be given the tools they need in order to make rapid progress. Two matches against the reigning Olympic champions – a team coached by Farry’s compatriot Mark Hager and that claimed three points from a potential six against Germany at home last week – can only serve to assist that process. GB will certainly prove a stern test, with the hosts regarded as clear favourites coming into this double header.
The matches will be available to watch via television or digital streaming thanks to our broadcast partnerships, as well as on the Watch.Hockey app in every country where a rights holding broadcaster is not showing the matches live.
More information about this weekend’s matches can be found below.
Great Britain v Spain (Men) & USA (Women)
Where:Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre (GBR)
Dates:Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 May 2021
Men’s Matches
Times (BST – UTC +1):Saturday: 13:00 | Sunday: 12:00
Match pages: Match 1|Match 2
Current FIH World Ranking: Great Britain: 6* | Spain: 9
Current FIH Hockey Pro League position: Great Britain: 6 | Spain: 9
Final standings - FIH Hockey Pro League 2019: Great Britain: 4 | Spain: 7
Head-to-heads in all competitions (since 2013 – 7 matches)
Wins:Great Britain: 2 | Spain: 4 | Draws: 1
Goals scored:Great Britain: 11 | Spain: 16
Team pages (squads & statistics): Great Britain| Spain
Women’s Matches
Times (BST – UTC +1): Saturday: 15:30 | Sunday: 14:30
Match pages: Match 1|Match 2
Current FIH World Ranking: Great Britain: 5* | USA: 15
Current FIH Hockey Pro League position: Great Britain: 6 | USA: 9
Final standings - FIH Hockey Pro League 2019: Great Britain: 8 | USA: 9
Head-to-heads in all competitions (since 2013 – 5 matches)
Wins:Great Britain: 3 | USA: 1 | Draws: 1
Goals scored:Great Britain: 8 | USA: 7
Team pages (squads & statistics):Great Britain | USA
* England ranking used as Great Britain do not have a World Ranking. For a detailed explanation of how world ranking points are calculated and exchanged after GBR matches, please click here.
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