Currently sitting bottom of Pool B having suffered defeats in all of their opening three matches, Ireland’s men certainly have plenty of work ahead of them if they are to achieve the top four finish required to reach the quarter-finals of the Paris 2024 Olympic hockey competition.
However, with matches against fourth-placed Argentina and fifth-placed New Zealand still to come, the Green Machine know that their Olympic campaign is far from finished.
The fact that Ireland have zero points is far from being a reflection of the quality of their performances. The team have competed in every match they have played so far, falling to narrow defeats against reigning Olympic champions Belgium (2-0) and Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallists Australia (2-1) before eight times Olympic champions India edged a close contest 2-0 in searing temperatures at the Yves-du-Manoir Hockey Stadium on Tuesday (30 July).
While the results have not gone their way, Ireland legend Shane O’Donoghue retains a rock-solid belief that his team can turn things around in their two remaining pool matches.
“It is do or die now”, said O’Donoghue, Ireland’s record scorer with 119 goals in 240 matches, speaking after the defeat to India. “We’re are going to push for two positive results as we’ll need at least a win and a draw (to reach the quarter finals). We’ll debrief today, but I’m proud of the effort of the guys – it was a solid shift today, but unfortunately came up short.”
“I’m disappointed to not be coming away with a result there, or even one point”, continued O’Donoghue, one of only two Irish players – alongside goalkeeper David Harte – from the squad that competed at Rio 2016. “It was tough conditions with the heat and we battled through, but India were just clinical with their set-pieces. Today we actually created more (chances) than we had in the previous two matches, but we didn’t convert. In those kind of games, that is what it comes down to.”
Looking ahead to those two huge games against Los Leones and New Zealand, the respective Olympic champions of Rio 2016 and 1976 Montreal, O’Donoghue was quick to recognise the qualities of both teams but insisted that Ireland will be as prepared as possible.
“Argentina and New Zealand are two tough teams with a different array of talents. We have a day off now to do our homework and recover well. We just need to be better in the final third, get some goal shots away and try to convert penalty corners when we get them.”
Despite the results, O’Donoghue was loving being back on the Olympic stage, enjoying every single moment of the Paris 2024 experience.
“Being back at the Olympics is fantastic, it’s amazing for every hockey player, man or woman”, said O’Donoghue. “We narrowly missed out (on qualification for Tokyo 2020) four years ago, so to be here again representing Team Ireland, with our families and friends watching on in the stands is huge for us, the biggest stage in the world. We want to give them something to cheer about, as they have been fantastic all week, spurring us on, especially in the heat today which was tough on them as well. We’ll definitely give it 100 percent in the last two games to see where we land.”
Talking about his family members, O’Donoghue said that his wife, parents and sister-in-law have been watching in the action at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, with more loved ones arriving in Paris ahead of their final pool matches.
“It is huge for them, to be able to come to the Olympic Games. It is not an every year kind of experience, so we have a huge fan base here creating atmosphere, and they have been superb. Like I said, hopefully we can give them something to cheer about in the next few days.”
The hockey competitions at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 take place from Saturday 27 July to Friday 9 August. Both the men’s and women’s competitions feature 12 teams, split into two pools of six ahead of quarter-finals, semi-finals and medal matches. For more information about the hockey competitions at Paris 2024, visit Olympics.Hockey.
