The results of the European past, in which Spain fell at the first exchange after hitting the ground against Belgium (0-5) and the Netherlands (0-5), in addition to a victory against Italy (2-0) , have been the trigger for the Spanish field hockey federation to dismiss the women’s coach, Adrian Lock. A resolution that has been given on the run and that was not foreseen, but that has been taken urgently and irrevocably. The institutional fear of not being at the Paris 2024 Games has been higher.
After the European Championship, the federation made the decision to kick out the coach – a decision that has been delayed to this Monday because Lock was on vacation – because neither the game nor the results accompanied the team, unable to seal their ticket to Paris. Not only that, they also failed to qualify for the Hockey Pro League, an objective that was essential to be able to compete with the best teams as a preview of the Games. Thus, and there are only three months left for Valencia to host the pre-Olympic tournament -the last chance for the team to seal their ticket to Paris-, Lock does not continue after ten years in which he has professionalized the team and in which the medals of bronze at the World Championships in London (2018) and the European Championships in Antwerp (2019).
It turns out that after the Tokyo Games, the coach decided to make a generational change in the squad. And it seemed to work well, because in the last World Cup in Terrassa (2022) the team finished seventh, beaten in the quarterfinals by the almighty Australia, but with an attractive and solid game. Although he has not had continuity. At the moment, the federation has not contacted any technician, although they explain that by the end of the month they hope to have resolved the mess. This means the cancellation of the next call for the team, which was scheduled for mid-September.
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