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Few can disagree that any hockey team in the world who have managed to beat the Aussies deserves to be taken pretty seriously - and that is precisely what the Spaniards managed to do in a pool match at the Rio Olympics.
Argentine coach German Orozco will not have the luxury of easing into the 2018 World Cup with a lung opener, and it is perhaps for the best that the South Americans were one of the first teams to arrive at Bhubaneswar and acclimatize early.
With Carlos Retegui at the helm, Argentina scaled the absolute summit of world hockey and Chapa's departure has meant that the Olympic champions have had a lackluster year thus far.
Yet, even under the watchful eye of Retegui, the Argentines succumbed against Spain by a 1-2 margin in the HWL Finals last December. It is quite another matter that Argentina regained their footing to finish runners-up, at Bhubaneswar, while the Red Sticks ended up sixth.
The World Cup will bring to an end the debate as to whether ace drag-flicker Peillat was the reason for Argentina's resounding success, or whether the credit for the same should be given to Retegui's work behind the scenes.
The highest scorer of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics continued to fire them in this year - but failed to guide his team to the top.
Gonzalo Peillat was the top scorer of the Azlan Shah Cup with 8 PC goals to his credit but failed to get his side to the final. Pedro Ibarra and co. had to settle for bronze instead and were beaten by India in the Champions Trophy.
Although Peiilat showed his class, at Breda, by firing in 6 PC goals, there was little he could do to prevent his side from being thrashed 1-4 by thirteenth-ranked Pakistan and the Argentinians eventually ended up fourth.
The Spaniards ranked eighth had a golden run just over a decade ago. A bronze in the 2006 World Cup followed by silver in the 2008 Beijing Olympics promised much but Spain soon fell behind ending fifth in the Delhi World Cup of 2010, sixth in the 2012 London Olympics, eighth in the 2014 World Cup, and fifth at Rio a couple of years.
Two incredibly talented Spanish players who were part of the journey right from the 2006 World Cup in Monchengladbach - goalkeeper Quico Cortes and Sergi Enrique have made it all the way to Bhubaneswar and continue to wield their magic as Spain seek to regain their lost glory.
Whether or not Peillat's brilliance can offset the loss of coach Retegui remains to be seen and will become clearer as the tournament progresses. For now, though, hockey fans can look forward to a cliffhanger in the first match of day two of the World Cup.
Here is how you can follow the action:
Event: Men's Hockey World Cup 2018
Venue: Bhubaneswar, India
Date: 29 November 2018
Time: 5:00 pm Indian Standard Time (IST)
Telecast:
India: Star Sports, Star Sports HD
UK: BT Sport
Australia: Fox Sports
Spain: Eurosport
New Zealand: Sky Sports (NZ)
Argentina: ESPN
South Africa: SuperSport
Live Streaming: Hotstar, FIH Official Youtube Channel
Live Updates: Sportskeeda
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