“It will be difficult but we are motivated” – Argentina hockey skipper claims his team wants to emulate Lionel Messi and company by lifting World Cup

Argentina are in party mode and the Lionel Messi-led football side have a large part to play in that. They won the 2022 FIFA World Cup and inspired a new generation of fans.

Now the Argentinian hockey team are preparing to follow in Messi's footsteps as they try and emulate the football team.

Argentina have reached India for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 in Odisha from 13 January.

Argentina skipper Matias Rey is hoping to take inspiration from Lionel Messi as he prepares to lead his charges to a World Cup win

“We take inspiration from Lionel Messi and our football team who won the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. They did a great job and we will try to repeat the same thing at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, it will be difficult but we are motivated and want to win the tournament and make the country proud,” said Argentina skipper Matias Rey.

Coached by Mariano Ronconi, Argentina, who are also known as the Los Leones, will be keen to add to their bronze medal, which they won in 2014 at The Hague in the Netherlands. Matias Rey and co are placed in Pool A with Australia, France and South Africa.

Rey said that his side had prepared hard and were ready for the mega event.

“Our preparation has been quite tough, we started working for this tournament as early as January last year, and we have worked hard all through. We have quite a young but well-balanced team and we hope to get the best results after all the hard work,” Rey added.

The Hockey World Cup will culminate on 29 January.

16 teams will be aiming to crown themselves as World Champions, with Australia once again one of the strong favorites.