EHL: Polo and Miralles in red-hot form for EHL after Campo demolition – EHL

Hot on the heels of a breathtaking win over Real Club de Campo, Marc Miralles says his Real Club de Polo side are in the right frame of mind to take on a monumental EHL ROUND1 Pool C in Eindhoven this week.

Amid thunder delays in Barcelona, Polo swept into a 4-0 first-half lead against the reigning Spanish champions last Sunday en route to a 5-2 victory.

It was just the kind of performance his side needed as final preparations for the EHL trip where they will take on Wimbledon and host Oranje-Rood.

“We’re very happy with the way we’re playing and the way we’ve prepared ourselves,” Miralles told the EHL website.

“This year, the schedule actually helped us because we knew from the beginning that we had to start at a high level, facing Atlètic Terrassa and then Campo. Last year we had three or four games which were not so competitive before facing Kampong.

“This really helps to build the team for the EHL because we had to start very strong since day one.”

They are also approaching the season with a more settled panel – in 2025, Miralles had only just rejoined the club after his spell with Bloemendaal while Luis Calzado, Teo Hinrichs, Benedikt Schwarzhaupt and Robert Duckscheer were moving on.

This year, Andreas Rafi is a strong addition from Mannheimer HC but, otherwise, Ramon Sala can continue to build with the line-up who have picked up a number of international medals over the summer.

Miralles, Nico Alvarez and Iñaki Zaldua all won silver medals at the World Cup while Gonzalo Álvarez Bustos, captain Matías Barón Estarellas, goalkeeper Francisco de Borja Guitart Catá and Guillermo Umbert Alomar were all Euro U21 bronze winners in Valencia.

“The base group is the same and we added a really good player in Rafi so we can build from what we did last season.

“You can really feel that in the connections and the way the team plays and the energy we have on and off the pitch. It’s way tougher when players are coming and going to build chemistry and to build a TEAM with capital letters!”

On a personal level, it has been a whirlwind few months with Miralles admitting he could have done with a little more recovery time before attention rapidly switched to European competition.

“I personally could have used another extra week for sure,” Miralles said. “But it’s always exciting to get back with the boys and especially having the EHL challenge so early in the season. You don’t have time to say ‘I’m going to start slow and build from there’. You have to start from the get-go!”

And so it is all guns blazing for the Friday night lights in Eindhoven against Oranje-Rood where they meet a home team bouyed by their own trio of Spanish players including former Polo man Borja Lacalle.

It is also a return to Eindhoven where Polo enjoyed their best recent run, reaching the FINAL4 in 2019, beating Royal Léopold and Club Egara before two narrow defeats to German opposition saw them end in fourth. Players like Guillermo Fortuño, Salva Armenteras traverse the two generations.

“That’s going to be a beautiful game, playing Oranje-Rood in their stadium” Miralles adds. “I know their international players, their Spanish guys and so we know much more about their individual threats [than Wimbledon].

“The older guys in the team – guys who are like 26 or 27 – played much smaller roles back in 2019, giving some air to our more experienced guys. They are going to experience Eindhoven in a much different way!

“They still remember how they played in 2019 and everything about it! And for the whole team it’s special because it’s the EHL and we’re going to play the host!”