Bhubaneswar : The Mexican National Team made their presence felt at the Biju Patnaik International Airport when they arrived with full gusto on Wednesday morning for the FIH Men’s Series Finals Bhubaneswar Odisha 2019. While five players from their team had already arrived in the Temple City of Bhubaneswar on Monday evening, the rest of the team members arrived today.
The Mexican players will vie to make a mark in the International Hockey scene with dynamic performances at the prestigious event that gets underway here at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium from Thursday.
Grouped in Pool B along with nemesis USA, South Africa and Japan, Mexico are hopeful of making an impact here to shed away their status as an underdog team. “Though we are known for our football culture, we have dedicated players in our team who are all passionate about hockey and we are here to make our presence felt in International Hockey,” stated Mexican player Miguel Leon.
With Mexico’s arrival today and South Africa’s arrival on Sunday night, all eight teams participating in the tournament have landed in Bhubaneswar and are all-geared to put up their best performance. “We watched the Men’s World Cup that happened here and there was great atmosphere. There will be many things we learn from this event especially from teams like India and Japan,” added Leon.
Mexico will play their first match on 7 June 2019 against Japan at 0845 hours.