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We want to chase Team France, said Colombian coach Stéphane Marcoux

One of the biggest surprise of the last Championship was Team Colombia. For the first time in its history Colombians advanced into Group A. The soul of the team and one of the most important man for Colombian in-line hockey is a coach Stéphane Marcoux.

"The journey from Colombia was very good. it took around 24 hours," said Marcoux who did not travel with the team. He took a flight from Düsseldorf where he was with the junior Colombian team at the FIRS junior championship. He travelled alone. "We have no players from Düsseldorf here. Maybe in following years," he explained.

He really likes it in Beroun, everything work fine according to him. "The organisation is very good. We expect this championship to be very well attended. I have been to all the World Championship since 2004 and this is the first time I have seen such a good organisation," he said.

Now it comes a tough time to defend a position built last year. "We are in a group A for the first time in ten years. The idea is to do our best in the quarterfinals. We want to go for team France and finnish 6th. The disappointment would be get back to B group. Our group is tough, realistic is to beat Switzerland and France."

Team Colombia had their first practice on Friday as one of the first teams in Beroun. "On Sunday we had a practice game with Australia. We do not have the same surface like it is here in Beroun so want to get used to it and also warm up."

Marcoux knows that to be successful in long terms, it means mainly to work with the youth. "The sport is young. We have been playing in-line hockey for about 12 years. We do not have ice hockey, just roller hockey. We have around 1000 players federated. We start with the youth cathegories - U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, U18 and U21, we also have a women`s team as well. It is not easy, because hockey is an expensive sport but I think we have done a great job."

Colombians also have to adjust to new conditions in Beroun. "We play in outside arenas on a little bit smaller rinks than this one," he explains.

Colombia did not participated in women`s cathegory this year. It might change soon though. "Women will eventually come as well. Maybe next year or later. They are now playing at the tournament in California, it helps them to get ready for such a big tournament."

Marcoux also described the team which arrived to the Czech Republic. "Our captain this year is Jesús Murillo, who already participated at five previous champoionships, we really depend on him. We have a mixture of juniors from last year with more experienced players. Our average is 23 years of age so we have a pretty young team."

He also spoke about the weeknesses and strengths of Colombian team. "The weeknesses are size, Colombians are short, but we can do nothing about it. Our strength is speed. Our goalies are both first time here so we will see how they react in front of a World championship," said Stéphane Marcoux.