Bhubaneswar: With only a day left before the much-awaited Hero Men’s Champions Trophy 2014 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, The Netherlands and Argentina will face each other in the Pool B match on Day 1 of the tournament on 6 December 2014. The first match of both the teams will be crucial for their campaign in the tournament, which is featuring six other best teams in the world.

The Netherlands, who lost their closely-fought final match of the 2012 FIH Champions Trophy against Australia in Melbourne, is looking forward to win all the matches with huge margins and set-off their winning streak in the tournament. The FIH Rank No. 2 team won their eighth and last FIH Champions Trophy title in 2006 and since then, they have been struggling to continue their supremacy and win the championship again. In their opening match, The Netherlands will try to dominate Argentina in all the quarters and score goals as many they can to start their campaign with a strong statement.

On the other hand, FIH Rank 7th Argentina, who qualified for the tournament after winning the 2012 FIH Champions Challenge I, will play in the tournament after 2008, and finishing 3rd in the 2008 FIH Champions Trophy was their best result till now. In tomorrow’s match, Argentina has to restrict their mighty opponents in their first match and a draw will be a great result for them to start the campaign with a positive note.

In the 35th edition of the Champions Trophy, Argentineans will arrive at Kalinga Stadium with a baggage of four defeats against The Netherlands in the tournament. However, in the Hero Hockey World League 2014 Final Round, Argentina stunned the hockey world by defeating The Netherlands by 5-2 in their group match. In the same league, they faced each other again for the 7th Place and Argentina lost the hard-fought match by 1-2. Till now, the Dutch team has dominated in almost all the matches against Argentina and they will want to continue their positive result against the South American team.

In the Hero Men’s Champions Trophy 2014 at the new venue in the new city, both The Netherlands and Argentina will hit the pitch with new energy to create a new history for their teams.

Speaking ahead of the first match against Argentina, The Netherlands Captain Robert van der Horst said, “We have been training hard for the last few days and every one in our team is motivated for the first match. We want to win the opening match with a good result and start our campaign with momentum. With the new coach and new system, we have a new energy in us which we want to show during our matches. Presently, our only objective is to win all our Pool matches and reach the quarter-final with a good form.”

Ahead of his team’s first game, The Netherlands Coach Max Caldas said, “Every team in the Hero Men’s Champions Trophy 2014 is tough to beat and Argentina is no exception. Argentina is a good team with some new talented youngsters and it will be our mistake to take them lightly. Our preparation for our first match against Argentina is pretty normal and we won’t do too many experiments. We just want to win all our pool matches with good results and reach the quarter-final of the tournament. After reaching the quarters, we will use new strategies.”

Speaking ahead of the first match, Argentina Captain Matias Paredes said, "Our preparation for the Hero Men's Champions Trophy 2014 is good and we are feeling confident to face our opponents in the tournament. We are very much excited about our matches and our first objective is to earn maximum points from the Pool matches. The first match tomorrow is very crucial for us, which is against a strong team The Netherlands, but we have plans for them and ready to take on.”

Ahead of his team’s first game against The Netherlands, Argentina Coach Carlos Retegui said, “We are very ready and excited for the first match tomorrow. Players are confident and we are hoping positive results from our Pool matches. Practice matches helped us a lot to know the strengths and weaknesses of our players in this conditions. We have tested many variations and team combinations during these practice matches, which will help us the tournament matches. We are looking forward to tomorrow’s match.”

The third match of the Hero Men’s Champions Trophy 2014 will be telecasted live on Ten Sports at 1730hrs IST on 6 December 2014.