BHUBANESWAR: Celebrations in Argentina haven't stopped following their FIFA World Cup victory last month, and there's no reason they should. They have won the coveted trophy for the first time since Deigo Maradona led them to victory in Mexico in 1986.
It's a historic moment and it has united the country like never before.
Naturally, it has helped their hockey team, taking part in the World Cup in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, come down fully pumped. And to keep this spirit of celebration alive, they begin their practice sessions with some hip-hop music followed by football.
Sadly, they couldn't carry forward their positivity into their opening game on Friday where they struggled to go past a lowly-ranked South Africa. They will now look to put on a better show on Monday when they take on world No. 1 Australia who trounced France 8-0 in their opener.
However, one doesn't expect them to panic with coach Mariano Ronconi at the helm.
The former goalkeeper knows all too well how to tackle hard times. He lost his little daughter more than 11 years ago but with ‘help from God' moved on and has been fairly successful coaching the Argentine senior and junior teams.
But he faced some tough times again when he took over the head coach's job in 2021. He had been an assistant coach for a long time but his appointment as the head coach came after Germán Orozco was fired by Argentina hockey. Ronconi also saw two of Argentina's best players – Gonzalo Peillat and Joaquin Menini – leave for Germany and Spain respectively.
Despite the crises, he helped the team bag the Pan American Cup and the gold in the South American Games last year and is hopeful of doing well at the World Cup, where they haven't had much success in the past.
And to break the jinx, he has introduced a three-captain policy.
"There are three captains for three generations. Matias Rey is for the seniors, Agustin Mazzilli aged 33 is for those in the middle, and Maico Casella for the younger generation since we have a lot of young players," said the coach.
He isn't too worried about Peillat and Menini not playing for Argentina though and said, "They are free to make their decisions and we respect that."
The coach, meanwhile, is hoping the players will also take inspiration from their junior counterparts who won the Junior World Cup in Bhubaneswar in 2021. "It was a great achievement and we have two players from that squad this time around," said Ronconi.
While several youngsters are part of the squad, his son failed to make the cut this time around. But the coach is confident that Juan Ronconi will one day get a chance to play on the big stage.
Juan made his debut for the senior team during the Pro League last year under his father. Asked what the experience was like coaching his son, Ronconi senior said, "The process was nice but it's difficult to separate the role of the coach from that of the father during the matches."
It surely is so and, in some way, it's good that he doesn't have to play the dual role at the World Cup.
