BHUBANESWAR: The Chile men's hockey team embarked Odisha on Thursday, January 5, for their FIH World Cup debut  and received a warm welcome at the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar.

The team led by Fernando Renz will evaluatetheir final preparations in Bhubaneswar before setting out for Rourkela, where they will play their opening match of the mega event against New Zealand on January 14.

Playing in their maiden Men's Hockey World Cup, the Chile team is excited about what lies ahead for them in the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's WC 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela.

Chile's captain said: "We have a good mixture of young and senior players in our squad. Our team is really good and we have been playing together for 4 years. Therefore, we are a team that is really tough to beat and will be doing our best in the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup 2023.

Chile is placed in Pool C along with the Netherlands, Malaysia and New Zealand.

Chile will compete in their first tournament on January 16 in Rourke'a against Malaysia, and on January 19 in Bhubaneswar against the Netherlands to wrap up the group stage.

Renz also discussed the difficulties the squad anticipates encountering at the FIH Men's World Cup 2023, saying, "We are competing in the Men's Hockey World Cup for the first time. We were selected to compete in the FIH Odisha

Hockey Men's World Cup in Santiago, Chile in 2023 over a year ago, and we have been training ever since." "We anticipated playing significant games while in India. We're in a tough group with teams like the Netherlands, Malaysia, and New Zealand, as you're all aware. Every game will be very challenging for us, but we have spent the entire year training for this competition, so we are confident that we will give it our all" he said.

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