KUALA LUMPUR – Andreas Rafi has led by example, spearheading Spain’s impressive run in the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup by helping them secure a berth in the semi-finals of the tournament.
The 19-year-old attacker, a product of FC Barcelona Hoquei with 22 caps for the senior national team, contributed four assists for his teammates, bringing an end to Pakistan’s physically dominant gameplay.
The Flying Green Horses were defeated 4-2 in the quarter-finals at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil today.
Head coach Oriol Puig Torras believes that his side is currently on form in the tournament and can easily take on any opponents with their fast-paced style of hockey.
“Once again, our strategy has worked, and playing fast-paced hockey has always been part of our DNA from the beginning.
“Most of our players are products of Barcelona Hoquei, Madrid Hoquei, and Bilbao Hoquei. They already have a lot of experience in the game, and since I took over my job early this year, my players have easily adapted to my system.
“As I have always said in the past, Andreas is one of the most important players I have had in my team, and it has been proven today with his dominant performance.
“Having him around makes the entire team better, and I’m happy that Andreas is getting a breakthrough in this tournament after missing the last edition due to a spine injury.
“Pakistan was a tough team for us to handle, and I love the way the players stepped up after we were one goal down against them. Now that we have qualified for the next round, it’s time for us to continue our winning momentum and clinch our inaugural title,” said Torras in today’s post-match conference.
Meanwhile, Roelant Oltmans said he was disappointed with his team for not holding up their fort, which led to Spain making a comeback in the match.
“It’s hard for us to digest this result, as we were expecting to win this match.
“Our energy dropped after we scored the opener, and then we couldn’t cope with our opponent’s skillful gameplay.
“The entire team is sad, and we are feeling a bit demotivated right now. We will be recovering and making sure we give our best in our classification matches,” said Oltmans with a teary eye.
Spain’s four goals were scored by Pol Verdiell (37th, 45th), Aleix Bozal (38th), and Pablo Espino (41st).
Hannan Shahid (12th) and Sufyan Khan (43rd) were on target for Pakistan.
Pakistan will be playing in the fifth to eighth-place classification match against Australia on Thursday morning.
Spain will take on France in the semi-final match on the same day at night. – December 12, 2023