Next week, the national teams of the Netherlands and Great Britain will play their first FIH Hockey Pro League matches for over six months, with two of hockey’s powerhouse nations going head-to-head at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen (NED).
Taking place on Tuesday 27 and Thursday 29 October, these giants of European hockey will be eager to take to the field after a lengthy and entirely unavoidable lay-off due to the COVID-19 global health pandemic.
In the women’s matches, reigning world, European and FIH Hockey Pro League champions the Netherlands take on the nation that pipped them to Olympic gold at Rio 2016. The men’s matches could prove to be anything but predictable, with Great Britain having a marginally better record than the Dutch in recent head-to-heads.
Due to the health and safety requirements in relation to the COVID-19 global health pandemic, the famously vociferous Dutch spectators will be unable to attend the upcoming clashes, which will be played behind closed doors. Whilst it will be strange to see this iconic venue without any fans, the excitement, energy and desire from the competing teams should ensure that those tuning in to the global broadcast are in for a real treat.
More information about the matches can be found below.
Netherlands v Great Britain (Women & Men)
Where: Wagener Stadium, Amstelveen (NED)
Dates: 27 & 29 October 2020
WOMEN’S MATCHES
Times: 27 October – 1630 | 29 October – 1630 (local time)
Match pages: Match 1 | Match 2
Summary: A clash between the holders of the two biggest titles in world hockey is always a mouth-watering prospect. At number one in the FIH World Rankings and being the reigning World, European and FIH Hockey Pro League title holders, few would argue with the fact that the dazzling Dutch will go into this fixture as hot favourites against Rio 2016 gold medallists Great Britain. Dutch head coach Alyson Annan is renowned for her relentless pursuit of perfection and will be expecting her charges to deliver against a team that they have beaten in all three of their subsequent meetings since suffering the agonising shoot-out defeat in Rio, having scored seven times without conceding a single goal. In the 2019 FIH Hockey Pro League, the Netherlands were comfortable 2-0 winners when the teams met in Eindhoven, although GB were perhaps unfortunate to lose the re-match two weeks later in London, going down 1-0 thanks to a final minute strike from Kelly Jonker. GB head coach Mark Hager – who like counter-part Annan was a legendary striker for the Australia national team – will be relishing the chance to take on the world’s best, providing a perfect opportunity to properly assess the progress a talented group of players are making under his tutelage.
The essentials…
Current FIH World Ranking: Netherlands: 1 | Great Britain: 5
Current FIH Hockey Pro League position: Netherlands: 2 | Great Britain: 7
Final standings - FIH Hockey Pro League 2019: Netherlands: 1 | Great Britain: 8
Head-to-heads in all competitions (since 2013 – 7 matches)
Wins: Netherlands: 4 | Great Britain: 2 | Draws: 1
Goals scored: Netherlands: 14 | Great Britain: 6
Team pages (squads & statistics): Netherlands | Great Britain
MEN’S MATCHES
Times: 27 October – 1900 | 29 October – 1900 (local time)
Match pages: Match 1 | Match 2
Summary: Since the London 2012 Olympics – when the hosts were emphatically dismantled 9-2 by the Dutch in the semis – Great Britain have actually had the better of the recent meetings between the two teams, with two wins, one draw and one loss from their past four encounters. Three of those clashes came in the 2019 FIH Hockey Pro League, with two fixtures in the regular League before facing each other in the bronze medal game at the end-of-season Grand Final competition in Amstelveen. GB claimed an impressive 3-1 away victory over Max Caldas’s men in the first of those fixtures, with Will Calnan, Sam Ward and Chris Griffiths all on target for the Brits in Eindhoven. Two weeks later, a late penalty stroke from Alan Forsyth helped GB claim a 2-2 draw in London, although it was the Dutch who nicked the bonus point by winning the shoot-out thanks to goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak denying Forsyth and captain Adam Dixon, while Jorrit Croon, Mirco Pruijser, Jeroen Hertzberger and Seve van Ass all successfully converted their one-on-one opportunities. The third (and most recent) meeting between the two teams went the way of the Oranje, who at one point trailed 3-2 before a Mink van der Weerden penalty corner and a double from Pruijser sealed a third-place finish for the home favourites. While GB may currently be bottom of the FIH Hockey Pro League standings, the Netherlands will be acutely aware of the threat posed by this talented GB team. The results could be difficult to predict.
The essentials…
Current FIH World Ranking: Netherlands: 3 | Great Britain: 7
Current FIH Hockey Pro League position: Netherlands: 3 | Great Britain: 9
Final standings - FIH Hockey Pro League 2019: Netherlands: 3 | Great Britain: 4
Head-to-heads in all competitions (since 2013 – 4 matches)
Wins: Netherlands: 1 | Great Britain: 2 | Draws: 1
Goals scored: Netherlands: 8 | Great Britain: 11
Team pages (squads & statistics): Netherlands | Great Britain
Fourteen FIH Hockey Pro League matches are set to be played between October and November 2020, with the remaining 76 scheduled between January and May 2021.
The FIH is pleased to reveal that the four matches in the Netherlands will feature mixed gender umpiring appointments, with a female and male umpire taking charge of each of these ‘Equally Amazing’ fixtures. Additionally, in an effort to minimize travelling distances at a time of heightened COVID-19 precautions, the match officials for these games have been selected from the Netherlands and Belgium.
"In these extraordinary times, everyone has been working together to find sensible solutions to the many challenges that we face”, said FIH Sport and Development Director Jon Wyatt. “We believe that selecting officials from the Netherlands and Belgium for the upcoming games is, in these circumstances, the correct course of action and would like to place on record our thanks to the players, team staff, national associations and officials for both their support and collaboration."
Although the fans will not be allowed into the stadium itself, all four matches will be available to watch via television or digital streaming thanks to our broadcast partnerships, as well as on the new Watch.Hockey app in every country where a rights holding broadcaster is not showing the matches live.
You can also keep up to date with all the latest news on the FIH Hockey Pro League via the event website and through FIH social media channels - Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Image copyright: FIH / Getty Images.
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