Hockey’s golden girl Ellen Hoog is a smart cookie. In her home nation, the Netherlands, she doesn’t have to do much to promote her sport. But she knows that Brazil is a country without a strong hockey tradition and she wants to play in front of full stadiums at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. So what did she say when asked why Brazilians should get involved? “It’s a very fast sport… it kind of looks like football.”

Hoog, the 2014 world player of the year who has two Olympic, two world and three European titles to her name, was speaking during her first visit to Rio, on Friday (27 November). She visited the recently opened Olympic hockey venue, which is currently hosting the test event. The 29-year-old midfielder hopes the new facilities and the Games will help grow the sport in Brazil.

“I hope we’re going to have a lot of spectators here,” she said. “I think hockey will get more popular in Brazil. It’s a big sport in Argentina, so hopefully it will become a big sport here as well.”

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Hoog was impressed on her first visit to the Rio Olympic Hockey centre (Photo: Rio 2016/Alexandre Loureiro)

Speaking of Argentina, captain Hoog and her team-mates stopped off in Brazil to check out the new Olympic facilities on their way to the neighbouring nation, the continent’s hockey powerhouse. Rosário, the city that gave the world Lionel Messi and Che Guevara, will host the World League finals, starting on 5 December, which features eight of the world’s top nine teams. They have all qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, so the Dutch should come away with a good idea of what they need to do to win a third-straight gold medal next year.

They are taking nothing for granted. “We are not really looking at ourselves as favourites,” said goalkeeper Joyce Sombroek. “We are just focusing on ourselves, trying to improve, being better every game.”

Brazil’s new hockey heroes won’t have to pretend they have fans at Rio 2016

The Dutch team trained on the new pitches at Deodoro Olympic Park on Friday (Photo: Rio 2016/Alexandre Loureiro)

For now, the Dutch girls are happy to soak up the atmosphere in the Olympic host city. “It’s my first time in Rio and it’s very special to be here,” said Hoog. “The Olympic venue looks really, really good, the pitch looks great.”

It is a pitch that has been designed to pay homage to the Brazilian flag, but Dutch striker Lidewij Welten had another idea. “I really liked the pitch, but orange would fit well here. Orange would look really good on this pitch.”

Ellen Hoog hoping to be star of the show again at Rio 2016 Games

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