Bhubaneswar: France are making a comeback in the men’s hockey World Cup fold after a long gap of 28 years and according to midfielder Tom Genestet their main aim will be qualifying for the quarterfinals of the quadrennial event which starts here at the Kalinga Stadium next Wednesday.
“Our main aim will be clearing the group stage and qualify for the quarterfinals but then we will take one match at a time, Genestet said after the team’s arrival at the Biju Patnaik International Airport, Thursday afternoon. The Chinese team are scheduled to arrive Thursday midnight.
“For us the opening match is really important for sure. We have to win against New Zealand and the games against Spain and Argentina are going to be tough,” he added. Tom’s brother Hugo is also part of the team and is the second most capped player for the country
This will be Les Blues’ third World Cup appearance – their previous being in 1971 and 1990 finishing seventh on both the occasions. “It’s like a dream come true for us,” Genestet, who led the team in Euro Hockey Championships and Hockey World League Semifinals both in 2015 added.
Speaking about their preparations for the biggest extravaganza, Genestet informed, “We had really good preparation against the teams like South Africa, Canada and Belgium and I think we can cause a little bit of an upset in the tournament,” Genestet, the most experienced player with 171 caps stated.
“We have good blend of young players along with seniors. This team have been together for the past one year and we have put in a lot of hard work for this tournament.”
Meanwhile chief coach Delmee Jeroen sounded optimistic about their chances stating, “We are the lowest ranked (20th) team in the tournament and our target is to get closer to the top 10. We are in a tough group but we have had good preparations.”
France begin their campaign November 29 against New Zealand and they will need to win at least one match in the group to make it to the crossovers. “We have good group of players who have been a part of U-21 World Cup in 2013 in New Delhi. They have grown from there, with good experience and a good program back home,” the 45-year-old Dutch coach added.
“We can make it hard for other teams who are favourites against us. At least one upset is a realistic goal for us to make the next round.”
However, speaking about the game back in the country which is mostly dominated by stars like Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann to name a few (France are current football World Champions), Genestet seemed determined to make a mark here.
“It’s true that hockey is not as popular in our country as it is in India, but we will definitely try to make a mark here so that we get some publicity back home,” the 29-year-old signed off.