My WC “Dream Team”

The World Cup has finished and the hockey party in India is over. It’s been three weeks of great fun, enjoying our sport with the best possible display. Congrats to the organization and to all the sponsors who made it possible. Congrats to Belgium as well, you guys finally have tasted the flavor of the victory, well deserved! Let’s see if you keep the same hunger until Tokyo.

In this tournament we’ve seen a bit of everything: disappointing top teams, disappointing poor teams, consistent teams with a lack of goal, dangerous teams with lack of consistency, revelation teams, teams in the process of Tokyo and teams in the process of Mordor.

In the present article I want to show my “Dream Team” of the WC. To evaluate the quality of something is a pure subjective act, also with hockey players. So this Dream Team contains a lot of me and my hockey vision, of course. Here it goes!

• Pirmin Blaak: Rocky II. Pirmin has been orbiting around the goalkeeper spot of the Oranje for many years, but he had to face Stockman in that process, which is a big thing. Never giving up (he was injured some weeks before the tournament) and patiently waiting for his opportunity: to be the main goalie in a major tournament. The chance has arrived with 30 years-old and in India, and he showed his best version. Let’s hope he can maintain this level until the Olympics. “Gonna fly now” is the song.
• Jonas de Geus: The pirate of Almere. Jonas is a modern player, he can play anywhere across the field. Good spatial awareness and smooth technique. Long arms that allow him to carry the ball far from the defender, but always under control. Jonas has made a very good tournament, in general. I say “in general” because he’s still young and has committed some mistakes of a bad boy, but this is something that will naturally disappear after playing some more caps.
• Gauthier Boccard: The threatened Swan (Asselijn). Another player that made a significant step in this tournament. Gauthier has been in the belgium squad since London 2012, but it has been now, with 27 years-old when he has exploded and showed all of his potential. Another all-rounded player, these days playing as right and left back, but he could do it anywhere else (remember the famous coast to coast he did in Belgium). He dominates all the possible skills, including the hit as a fake pass, which is difficult to find these days. He’s still better than what he showed.
• Harmanpreet Singh: The golden stick from Amritsar. If there is only one indian player in a dream team squad, you never expect a defender, right?. But yes, this time I’ve chosen Harmanpreet. This guy is a top drag flicker, but he is not only a drag flicker. He performs in long passes with the use of aerials, fake sweeps and also the powerful asian hit. But that’s not all, under pressure he has showed good indian skills and the capacity to dribble and progress. Still young, he will be crucial for the future!
• Arthur van Doren: De Leeuw. There is something more important than being one of the best players in the world: to be unconsciously recognized by your opponents as one of them. Arthur has this special aura. The Lion King. He has this presence inside the field, this special self-confidence that goes beyond the ordinary and blind others. He can lose balls, throw a melon as a pass or concede some easy corners against. But his presence remains intact. He is one of the best players in the world, but out of them, he is the only one who hasn’t reached his potential yet.
• Hugo Genestet: Didier Deschamps. Give me 11 Genestet (including brothers, cousins and nephews) and I become invincible. The smartest of the class. He is not the strongest, nor the fastest, nor the most skillful, but he is one of the best players, why? He understands the game better than the majority, so he rules the game according to his will. He doesn’t run any stupid meter in the whole game. A great example of smart decision-making and economic effort.
• David Ames:  Adam Clayton. David is the bass of England, the one who sustains the whole song while managing the rhythm of the game. Every team needs a Sergio Busquets. Very important role in the midfield, always providing an easy short pass and always ready to find the next one (to Middleton and Sloan most of the times). Good vision skills, awareness of the close and distant companions and calm under stress situations. David is the perfect metronome of my Dream Team.
• Mats Grambusch: e-Golf. Yes, he is a Volkswagen, but he’s electric. The old and the new. The new paradigm of hockey player within a traditional german structure. The Hegelian synthesis is here. Germany is in the process of Tokyo, finding and defining this new identity. Mats is a wise guy, with a huge potential for leadership (potential, yes), and really good in combining verticality with control.
• Billy Bakker: Old Amsterdam Cheese. In case of emergency, he never fails. Improvement over time. In this WC he has demonstrate an extraordinary performance and leadership inside the field. He was the source of energy of the oranje midfield. Really good in stick & body relation, has showed delicious skills details. As a midfielder he should combine the control with some “rush” moments of acceleration. After two years of good maduration, he will be in the best moment of his career.
• Victor Wegnez: Blitzkrieg Bop. There is no WC champion without Wegnez and what he represents for Belgium. Belgium hockey needed his punk-rock intervention. Accelerated drums and aggressive guitars, but with a consistent bass. Victor is pure dynamite. Bright future ahead, where he will have to learn how to play ballads as well, but without losing his true origins.
• Blake Govers: Uluru. Bigger than the rest. Imposing respect, admiration and fear to others. Blake is the offensive totem of Australia. He shines differently depending on the game. He can be good in progressing with the ball, he can be just a killer inside the circle or he can be a killer drag flicker if needed. Blake is in the center of kookaburras dreams. He will be essential in Tokyo.

I hope you like it!

Thanks

Andreu