Bhubaneswar, Jan. 15: German international Moritz Fuerste will lead Kalinga Lancers in the Hockey India League, which begins on January 21.
The 33-year-old half-back, who has played 256 matches for the German national team, was named captain of the Odisha side during unveiling of the team jersey at an event in the capital today. Fuerste was part of the gold medal winning German teams at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
Fuerste, who has 109 international goals to his name, is among the most sought-after players in the world in his position and was the International Hockey Federation World Player of the Year in 2012.
"Our focus will be to have a great start to the tournament. These kinds of tournaments require good starts and we will train ourselves rigorously in the remaining days for that," said Fuerste. The Lancers have a 20-man squad this season, including eight foreigners.
The Lancers will start its campaign on January 22 against the Delhi Waveriders at Kalinga Stadium here before taking on the Ranchi Rays and the Uttar Pradesh Wizards on January 23 and January 29, respectively. The Lancers will play their remaining two home matches against Jaypee Punjab Warriors and Dabang Mumbai on February 3 and February 5, respectively.
Sanjay Kumar Singh, chairman of the Odisha Sports Development and Promotion Company, the team's promoter, said the current team had the balance to win this year's championship. "The home team has become a great source of entertainment for youths and the huge crowds at the Kalinga Stadium last year was testament to that. We hope they will come out in equal numbers this year too," said Singh.
The Lancers have had mixed fortunes during their three outings in the tournament so far. Having made their debut in the second edition of the league in 2014, the Lancers managed only two wins, winning the proverbial "wooden spoon" after finishing last in the points' table. They went one better with three wins in the following campaign, climbing to fifth place on the table. However, the last season saw its best performance so far after finishing in second place.
