As the clock ticks down for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023, with less than 40 days to go, hockey legend Zafar Iqbal recalled his time with the Indian team in the 1970s and 1980s.
Zafar Iqbal was one of the new members of the Indian men’s hockey team when he was given the responsibility of representing the nation at the 1978 Men’s Hockey World Cup in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“I played my first Test series against Netherlands at home in 1977. After that we played a few Test series overseas before going to Argentina,” Iqbal recalled during Hockey India’s Favorite World Cup Memories series.
fifa world cup 2022 points table , fifa world cup 2022 schedule , fifa world cup 2022 result , fifa world cup 2022 golden boot
He stated that the team traveled to Argentina with the intention of defending the title. With several members of the 1975 World Cup winning team being on the roster, there was a strong belief that India Will be a strong contender for the trophy.
“All we wanted to do was to successfully defend the trophy. That was our only motivation before going into the tournament. There were many new players in the team and we were very keen to perform on the big stage. Our squad won the 1975 World Cup. The players of the cup team were there too, and we were confident,” said Iqbal.
India lost their opening match against Canada in the tournament before securing a win over Australia. But a 0–7 loss against West Germany followed by a 1–1 draw against England sealed India’s fate and they were unable to qualify for the semi-finals.
He said, ‘Despite playing well in the tournament, we lost some easy games. We failed to win over England and Germany and failed to reach the semi-finals. It was a big blow for us at that time as we were the defending champions,” Iqbal recalled.
India lost their final match in the tournament against Spain and finished sixth in the tournament.
Iqbal, who also featured in the 1982 Men’s Hockey World Cup in Mumbai, explained how hockey began to change in the 1970s and 1980s.
In our time, hockey was played on grass. But by the 1980s, AstroTurf began to replace grass in most parts of the world. Even though the 1982 World Cup was played on grass at home, we were unable to perform at our best, and were once again unable to qualify for the semi-finals,” Iqbal added.
“Now, AstroTurf has turned hockey into a power sport. Sportsmen need to get fitter and have more energy. We now had to adapt to the European style of attacking hockey. We had to change with the times. Once astro turf was introduced, we had to adjust according to the turf,” said Iqbal.
‘Tough group for India’
As the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 draws closer, which is set to begin on January 13, Iqbal revealed his favorites for the tournament.
Australia, Belgium, Netherlands, India, Argentina, Germany, New Zealand, England, France, Korea, Malaysia, Spain, South Africa, Japan, Chile and Wales are the 16 teams that will participate in the tournament.
“In world class competitions, you never know who will be in top form. Many teams are very strong like Belgium, Netherlands, Australia, England, Spain and India,” said Iqbal.
He further said that the ongoing Football World Cup is proof that any team can be successful on any given day.
“Former World Champions Spain, Germany and Brazil have all been eliminated in the Football World Cup. You never know which team can win over which team in a tournament like this. It is always unpredictable and FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 is also unpredictable.”
India is placed in Group D along with Spain, England and Wales. Iqbal believes that this is a tough group for India.
“We will have tough matches in the group stages. We have Spain, England and Wales, and all are equally strong in their own right,” Iqbal said.
“I am sure if India finishes on the podium, it will be a great achievement for Hockey India. We have many courageous players in the team, who always give their best, and who were the heroes of the Tokyo Olympics. So, we hope they can repeat the success once again.”
read all Latest sports news Here
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)