ROURKELA: The hockey fan in all of us will be cheering for Malaysia to beat the Netherlands in their opening Bhubaneswar-Rourkela World Cup match at the Birsa Munda Stadium tomorrow.
But realists know that it is an almost impossible task for coach Arul Selvaraj's men to achieve.
The fact that Malaysia are 11th while the Dutch are No 3 in the world is one reason the match is going to be an uphill encounter for 60 minutes. But lets say rankings do not matter, then comes the silver medal saga.
The Netherlands went all the way to shootouts with Belgium before losing the gold medal match four years ago at the Bhubaneswar World Cup.
At the same edition, Malaysia fared badly at the group stage and in the end finished 15th out of 16 teams.
So it will be near impossible, but Arul and his men are keen to write their own history.
"Of course, the stats are stacked against Malaysia. We know it will not be an easy match from the first whistle," said Arul.
"Nevertheless, we are game to take on the challenge and we have our own plans on how to get something out of this match."
International Hockey Federation records show that Malaysia first played the Dutch at the 1964 Olympics and lost 2-0. There have been 12 encounters up until today, with Malaysia winning one and drawing once, the rest belonged to the Dutch.
The famous win was achieved in the 1975 Kuala Lumpur World Cup. Malaysia beat the Netherlands 2-1 and ended fourth in the tournament, their best ever showing at that level. The 0-0 draw came at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
The latest results, however, are not flattering as Malaysia played two test matches against them in 2019 and were whipped 6-2 and 6-4.
The Dutch are one of the most decorated hockey teams in the sport, having won the World Cup in 1973, 1990, and 1998, and reaching the finals in the last two editions.
The Netherlands' captain, Thierry Brinkman, said: "We are very happy to be here as we have good memories four years ago, played a really good tournament. Hopefully, we will play well in this tournament as well."
Dutch coach Jeroen Delmee was straight to the point: "We are looking forward to playing against India in the finals."
Maybe, just maybe, Malaysia will make life harder for them in the World Cup by coming out winners tomorrow.
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