Hockey: Pall hangs over men's hockey

By TERRY MADDAFORD

New Zealand hockey boss Ramesh Patel was quick to join the chorus of those disappointed at the failure of the national men's team to win a place at the Sydney Olympics.

"It was not good enough," said Patel, New Zealand Hockey's chief executive, after arriving back from the Olympic qualifying tournament in Osaka yesterday afternoon.

"You can be like people were with the All Blacks and look for all sorts of excuses but that is not going to tell anything you don't already know. Everyone is shattered. It was an opportunity lost.

"They are feeling it, but at the end of the day we did not play well enough. They were not consistent enough to meet the demands of international hockey at this level.

"By the time I got there they had four points from two games and people were telling me they had looked pretty good," said Patel.

"They went into the game against Japan knowing a win would almost certainly guarantee them a place at the Olympics. But simply, they did not play well enough.

"Against Korea, they played some outstanding hockey at times, but when they went a goal down after having two shots hit the post, the heads went down and the Koreans were all over them.

"Again, when we played Poland we were all over them for 24 minutes. We then missed a stroke which was followed by an inexcusable blunder on halfway which left them with a one-on-one with [New Zealand goalkeeper] Scott Anderson.

"From another defensive error Poland went 2-0 ahead."

While obviously disappointed that the Olympic dream has disappeared and with it the guarantee of ongoing New Zealand Sports Foundation funding, Patel said planning for future international play would continue as soon as an across-the-board review was completed - perhaps as early as the end of next week.

"The players and management know they let people down," he said.

"They will be part of the review New Zealand Hockey was going to undertake after the Olympics which, sadly, has had to be brought forward.

"We need to look back, let the players and management do their individual reviews, and start planning for the next two years.

"The test series against Pakistan which was going to be a key part of our Olympic build-up will still go ahead here in August.

"Who knows, there may well be different personnel - on and off the field - involved.

"We are still planning to host a test series in New Zealand in February ahead of the World Cup qualifying tournament in Madras in May when we have to finish in the top seven to win a place in the 2002 championship in Malaysia."

While the federation obviously feels the team under-achieved in Japan, it is determined to get on with it.

"We know they can do better and we will remain very supportive," Patel said.

"While we will not be putting pressure on anyone, we will be looking for a two-year commitment.

"We are not asking players to rush into anything. So far, I'm aware only of Scott Anderson's decision to retire.

"Maybe a couple of other senior guys will also decide to step down. Like them, we are all hurting.

"We know they gave it everything but in the end, the statistics don't lie. We conceded too many goals.

"That, like other things, said they simply were not good enough.

"We must build from here using the national league and any other opportunities to do that.