Made up of students, doctors & bankers, team makes statement despite loss to NZ
ROURKELA: Jose Maldonado's personal milestone on Saturday was overshadowed by his team's date with history but the 28-year-old wasn't complaining. Chile's debut at the FIH World Cup marked the midfielder's 100th appearance for his country. It was a moment he had waited for almost a decade, making sacrifices on and off the field along the way.
They were served a 1-3 reality check in their campaign opener by New Zealand, but the journey from obscurity to hockey's finest platform was celebrated by the La Rojas.
In a team composed mostly of amateurs — 70% of them are students — while the rest are professionals like doctors, lawyers, engineers and bankers.
A year ago, around this time, when Chile qualified for the premier event as runners-up at the Pan American Cup, the direction of life changed for the players and support staff.
Wanting to be game changers in a country where about 500 people play the sport, some took a break from studies while others like Maldonado quit their jobs.
Maldonado, whose sister Maria is part of the women's national team, last year quit his job asa physical education teacher and moved to England to play professional hockey.
"It was an inevitable step I had to take and some of my other teammates too did the same. It was the best way we could improve ourselves," pointed out the seasoned midfielder.
Ignacio Contardo, who became the first goal scorer for the South American nation with his 49th minute strike, is proud to have come the distance. His story follows a script similar to that of Maldonado. Conardo gave up his banking job to fine-tune his skills in the European league.
"I'm a graduate in business and economics and worked at a bank till last year. But once we qualified for the World Cup, I quit my job and went to play the league in Spain from June to December. It was important to lift our game," explained the 28-year-old.
Head coach Dabanch Jorge, lauding his team's efforts on the day, said, "Hockey is a minority sport in Chile. Our players have made plenty of sacrifices, all for the love of the sport. While the government funds training and tournament costs, players get no fee. In the run-up to the World Cup, we played friendly matches against Argentina and had a 45-day camp, which meant, players either quit jobs, took a break from studies or are on unpaid leave."
As Jorge walked to join the team, he turned around and added, "Passion for hockey, that's what it is."
RESULTS: Group C: New Zealand 3 (Sam Lane 9, Sam Hiha 11, 18) bt Chile 1 (Ignacio Contardo 49); Netherlands 4 (Thijs Van Dam 19, Jip Janssen 23, Tuen Beins 46, Jorrit Croon 59) bt Malaysia 0
