Their members are a motley mix of teachers, IT workers, lawyers and accountants, but the Irish men’s hockey team are united by two words: “No excuses.”

The team adopted the “No excuses" mantra during their long road to the Rio 2016 Games, the first time the Irish men's hockey team has qualified for the Olympic Games in 108 years.

Goalkeeper David Harte – one of the few professional players on the Irish team dubbed “The Green Machine" – says the slogan “probably summarises everything about this senior men’s team.” 

The team fell just short of competing in the London 2012 Olympic Games when the Republic of Korea scored a game-winner with just seven seconds remaining to knock them out of qualification.

The defeat only strengthened their resolve. The Irish qualified for the Rio Games after a fifth-place finish at the FINTRO Hockey World League Semi-Final, which included back-to-back wins over higher-ranked Pakistan and Malaysia.

The Green Machine needed to not only focus on the pitch, but on their pocketbook, raising 225,000 euros to cover the costs of their Olympic journey. The tream has regularly raised funds from fans to travel to tournaments.

“We play tournaments constantly against teams higher ranked than us, with monthly wages supported by corporate sponsors and national governments,” Harte says, adding that fundraising efforts have only brought the players closer together.

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The Irish earned a silver medal back in the London 1908 Olympic Games. In Rio, Ireland will be tested to the limit in the group stage where they will face London 2012 gold medallists Germany and 2012 silver medallists Netherlands in Group B competition as well as Argentina, Canada and India.

Harte says the team is up to the challenge.

"‘No Excuses’ means when we go to a tournament where things may not go our way on the pitch we do not look at this, that and the other disadvantages, and use them as an excuse."

All matches will take place at the Olympic Hockey Centre in Deodoro Olympic Park.

The top four teams from each two pools in Rio will progress to the quarter-finals. This is the first time in an Olympic hockey competition that quarter-finals will be played; in recent tournaments the top four teams progressed straight to the semi-final stage.