Spain are the lowest ranked men’s team in the FIH Pro League [9th] and were the last nation to be confirmed as participants in the inaugural competition but their performances in the competition suggest they are a side eminently suited to Pro League hockey.
Every match Spain has played so far has been fiercely contested and breathlessly exciting. They held the world number one side, Belgium to a 2-2 draw in the opening match, scoring twice in the final two minutes of the match. They then audaciously won the ensuing shoot-out to take a bonus point. They were then involved in a 5-6 thriller against Great Britain, bursting into a 4-1 lead before the first quarter was finished but then unable to halt a Great Britain comeback of epic proportions. The result caused Head Coach Frederic Soyez to reflect that hockey really was a game where the intense speed of the play meant a match wasn’t over until the final whistle went.
In their most recent encounter, Spain lost 2-1 to the FIH World Ranked number two side Australia, but again this was a match that could have gone either way and a stalwart Spanish defence ensured the Kookaburras had to work hard for the three points.
Speaking to Soyez as he and his players prepared for their first away games of the Pro League in Australia and New Zealand, the Head Coach was positive about his team’s opening matches.
“Our opening matches have been okay. We have taken two points against the two 2018 World Cup finalists [2-2 against Belgium and 3-3 against Netherlands, where Spain also won the shoot-out], so I am very happy with that.”
For Soyez, who represented France 196 times, scoring 195 goals, each match is providing more learning points. “In the match against Great Britain, it’s hard to lose when you are 4-1 up but that is sport, we have to accept it. We must learn from that defeat and keep going forward. It’s a new competition with a new format and we have to adapt.”
The Spanish players will remain in the southern hemisphere for their next match against New Zealand [8 March] before they fly home for an encounter with Germany in Valencia on the 18 March. Soyez says it is a schedule that is tough, particularly when combined with the demands of the club leagues back in Europe. “The players are working hard though to mitigate the travel and stay competitive in each and every game.
“We have shown that we can be competitive with every team in the league. And I know that with consistency, we are capable of getting results to reflect all the hard work we are putting in.”
And just as Spain fell foul to a tenacious finish by Great Britain, so Soyez has made sure that his team make every second of a match count. In every match except the most recent, they have scored one, if not two, goals in the final three minutes of the game. “We have learnt a lot in the past few weeks but the biggest thing is that we know a game is never done until that final whistle goes.”
Spain's next FIH Pro League match is against New Zealand on Friday 8 March.
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