Argentina swamped Korea in the final to win a successful Sahara Hockey Champions Trophy

Lombi powers Argentina to Alexandria glory 

Elisabeth Fürst, FIH webmaster in Egypt, reports on a fascinating tournament. 

Three months into 2005, the senior international hockey season took off on 1 April with six nations competing at the Sahara Hockey Champions Challenge in Egypt. 

Having assured qualification through their ranking at the Athens Olympic Games, Korea, England, Argentina, South Africa, Egypt, and Belgium (who were granted entry after New Zealand opted not to participate) met at the beautiful, state-of-the-art facilities at Alexandria’s Smouha Club. 

The prize for the victor was a coveted position in the 2006 edition of hockey’s premier annual event, the Champions Trophy. 

As was to be expected at the first major post-Olympic event, and with a date this early in the season, preparations for the event varied widely. 

Belgium, despite being a late entrant after New Zealand declined their invitation, came well attuned and ready for battle with a number of matches against Malaysia, the Australian Institute of Sport and Ireland already under their belts. 

The team flew into Egypt five days before the event to acclimatise and train, whereas England’s squad had no more than a handful of training days together and arrived only the day before their first match.

The compositions of the teams also made for differing starting points. Argentina brought an experienced squad that boasted an average 90 caps and 12 of their 2004 Olympians, while South Africa fielded only five players who competed in Athens and produced a humble 20 caps on average. 

Opting for a less extreme approach to restructuring after the Olympic year, Korea and Belgium both arrived with more balanced squads, carefully blending experience and youth for 55 and 70 average caps respectively. 

This moderate approach soon paid off for Belgium. Underestimated and dubbed a certain participant in the last-place playoff before the tournament began, they staked their claim as early as day one by surprising many with a clear defeat of South Africa. 

They continuned to produce solid performances filled with motivation and discipline which yielded the deserved bronze medal at tournament’s end.

Giles Bonnet’s Belgian boys have indeed improved tremendously since their unlucky Madrid showing little more than a year ago denied them an Olympic berth. In Alexandria, they showed promise for the future.

The cornerstone of their excellent final placing was an astonishing penalty corner battery which converted 16 out of 30 penalty corners in the tournament. The majority of these conversions came on the stick of Jean-Philippe Brulé. The Belgians’ not-so-secret weapon converted 14 goals in the tournament – 13 penalty corners and one penalty stroke – to not only scored 54% of his team’s goals, but also crown himself joint topscorer with Korea’s Jung Seon Lee. 

The pair’s closest pursuer was Argentina’s veteran Jorge Lombi, who scored four of his 10 goals in the final to boldly declare that at age 33, he is still a force to be reckoned with and a considerable asset to his team. 

Korea also put forward a convincing performance in this Challenge, more expected in this case, and emerged from the pool stage of the tournament as clear favourites for promotion to the Champions Trophy with four wins and a draw from the round robin phase. 

The tables were suddenly turned on the day of the final however, and Korea quickly found themselves trailing the fiery South Americans in what was to be one of the two best matches in the entire event. 

Argentina played their best game of the tournament, whereas Korea had trouble getting into rhythm and soon felt frustrated by the insurmountable Argentine defense. At the other end of the field, Jorge Lombi almost singlehandedly took his players to victory, scoring from every opportunity – field play, penalty corners and a penalty stroke. 

After the final, Argentine captain Germán Orozco, who played in his 200th international match in the final, was presented with the award for Best Player of the Tournament. 

Orozco was only one of the numerous players who made their mark in the tournament or emerged as players to watch in the future. 

Some of those included Agentine goalkeeper Juan Manuel Vivaldi, who put on a stellar performance in the final, and Belgian striker Jerome Truyens, who at barely 17 years of age and with 10 caps before the competition, impressed with his well-developed technical skills. 

Other names and faces to remember include Korea’s reliable defender Jong Bok Cha, Argentina’s mercurial Tomas Argento, Sameh Metwally of Egypt, England’s topscorer Matt Daly, and South Africa’s temperamental John McInroy. 

With the exception of the final, the most exciting encounter was the battle for bronze between England and Belgium. In a heartstopping back and forth encounter between two equal opponents, Belgium prevailed largely thanks again to superhuman Brulé’s five goals in his team’s 6-5 defeat of the English. 

Still, England must not be disappointed, considering the youth and inexperience of the team Jason Lee brought to Egypt, the late arrival of the team due to club commitments, and the bad luck they had during the event with a constant string of injuries including a twisted ankle for Ben Hawes and a broken nose for captain Brett Garrard. 

Despite finishing sixth, the Egyptians showed potential and visibly developed in the course of the six matches. It will be exciting to see where German Gerhard Rach, formerly with India’s men’s team, is able to take the side if he continues in the role of Egyptian head coach.

Overall, the Sahara Champions Challenge was an extremely enjoyable event and a very well-organised tournament, providing an all-around promising start to the current season and raising hopes that 2005 will be an exciting year in international hockey. 

Sahara Hockey Champions Challenge
Men, Alexandria, 1-9 April
Stats Pack
Matches Played:18
Goals Scored: 113
Average Goals per Match: 6.3
Field Goals Scored: 56
Penalty Corner Goals Scored: 53
Penalty Stroke Goals Scored: 4
Number of Goals Scored in 1st Half: 55
Number of Goals Scored in 2nd Half: 58
Top Goal Scorer (individual): Jean-Phillippe Brule BEL, Jung Seon Lee KOR (14)
Top Goal Scorer (team): Argentina (25)