Spain and New Zealand arrive in Bhubaneswar for FIH Hockey Pro League 2022-2023

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], October 26 (ANI): With the FIH Hockey Pro League India leg starting this weekend, Spain and New Zealand arrived on Tuesday in the temple city of Bhubaneswar, which is also one of the venues for the most-awaited FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup Bhubaneswar-Rourkela in January 2023.
Expressing their excitement upon arriving this morning, Max Caldas, Head Coach of Spain said, "It's been a long journey but we love coming to India, especially Bhubaneswar. We know the stadium, the pitch, and the conditions in Bhubaneswar very well. During these matches, our aim will be to focus on ourselves and the things we have been training."
"It's important to get these matches, hopefully there will be more public coming to watch the matches so the team will be looking forward to the experience and get a feel of what it's going to be like in the World Cup in January," Caldas added.
Spain will begin their campaign against New Zealand on October 29 while New Zealand will take on hosts India in their first game on October 28.
Greg Nicol, Head Coach of New Zealand stated how important these matches are for his team. He said, "India is hockey-crazy and it's always exciting to come here. We will be back again in the next three months for the World Cup so it was very important for us to get these matches now in India as Pro League is a good opportunity for us to prepare for the World Cup."
"In terms of preparations, it has been challenging for us as a lot of players have directly come from playing club hockey. So, we will regather tonight and realign our plans before we get on with our first training session here and our first match against India," Nicol added. (ANI)