Bangladesh head coach Siegfried Aikman relishes latest challenge at men’s Junior Hockey World Cup

Dutch coach Siegfried Aikman almost always chooses teams that are either struggling or sides that are eager to excel.

An FIH senior coach, the 66-year-old has coached the senior team of Japan to its maiden Asian Games gold in 2018, Pakistan to its first medal (a bronze) in 11 years in the 2022 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, and Oman to its first-ever bronze in the 2024 Hockey5s World Cup.

Now in Chennai, with the Bangladesh junior men’s hockey team for the FIH World Cup beginning on November 28, Aikman wants his side to give a tough fight to the teams in his Pool (F) that have heavyweights Australia, South Korea and France.

“I like the challenge, so I deliberately choose developing teams, because I think that’s where I can make a difference,” said Aikman after the training session at the SDAT-Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium on Wednesday.

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The veteran coach knows it will be nigh impossible to progress to the knockouts. “The domestic standard in hockey in Bangladesh is low, which means the pace of the game is slow, so our players are used to playing a slow game, and when you play against players from the best of the world who play at a high pace, they put high pressure, and every mistake they punish. So, we need to adapt, grow, and that is the progress we want to make,” he said.

Aikman spoke about the legacy that he wants to leave.

“I help my assistant coaches to grow. I don’t just coach the team, I also coach the coaches. I want my legacy to be that if I leave, my assistants have to take over the team, because I think the team should be coached by their own countrymen,” he said.

Published on Nov 26, 2025