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Photo: Mario Hommes / DeFodi Images / Getty Images
Gonzalo Peillat has dashed a German gold medal hope.
With the Argentine national hockey team, he won the semifinals of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games 5-2 against Germany – at half-time Peillat had already scored three penalty corners.
Argentina continued to rush to Olympic victory, Germany only remained bronze.
Six and a half years later, the German national hockey team has title dreams again, this time it's about the World Cup in India, which starts on Friday.
But this time Peillat will not destroy German dreams - on the contrary: he should make them possible.
Because the 30-year-old is now playing for Germany.
Peillat has lived in Mannheim for years, where he and his girlfriend play for Mannheimer HC in the Bundesliga.
The team won the championship in its first season, and Peillat is still chief of defense and goalscorer in one person.
His penalty corners are considered the best in the world.
Away from the field, he takes care of the club's junior hockey players.
He feels at home in this country.
The most German thing about him is probably his "love of order," he told the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung."
Change possible after a three-year break
But why is Peillat allowed to play for Germany now?
A change of national team is rare in hockey.
But unlike in football, where a national player who has played an international match is no longer allowed to start for another country, in hockey a change is possible after a break of three years.
Peillat fell out with the association after the 2016 triumph.
The captain no longer had confidence in the Argentine coach, there was a discrepancy between what the coach said and what he did, Peillat told the "Welt am Sonntag".
He could no longer endure the "arbitrariness."
He didn't go into any more detail.
Peillat is described as reserved and quiet.
The idea of a change to the German association was first brought to him by a video analyst from the DHB team, says Peillat.
He thought about it for a long time and then took the step and tried to get naturalized.
The youth concept is still the basis of success, says the DHB sports director
It was important to him that the team wanted him there "100 percent": "Germany is a big hockey nation, so it's not a matter of course that they accepted me," Peillat told the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper: "The boys have it made it very easy for me."
The association did not want to miss the opportunity to win a world star for its national team.
But the basis of success, said DHB sports director Christoph Menke-Salz, is their own young talent concept.
For years, the Germans did very well with it and were able to collect numerous medals and titles.
Peillat's greatest strength, in addition to his routine and defensive strength, is the penalty corner, which is so important in hockey.
He had scored eleven times in the 2016 Olympic victory, and now Germany should score a few more goals.
“It is an incredible privilege to have the best corner shooter in the world in our ranks.
But we also have two good shooters in Tom Grambusch and me,” says national player Lukas Windfeder.
Dream debut for Peillat - first goal after 45 seconds
A functioning penalty corner process is elementary in hockey.
Many goals are scored in this way, especially in tight games between top nations, the team that has the best corner rate usually wins.
Peillat also likes the German style of play.
"In Argentina it's more about tricks and dribbles, everyone wants to attack," he told the "FAZ": "German hockey is more orderly, much more tactical."
Peillat introduced himself to the national team: on his debut against Spain in March last year, he scored after just 45 seconds – from a penalty corner, of course.
“Gonzo got off to a very low key start here.
He has not made any claims and put himself fully at the service of the team," says national coach André Henning of the "Abendblatt".
Modesty is also attested to him at Mannheimer HC, it is important to Peillat to integrate himself away from the playful.
So he tries to master the anthem of his new national team well, Peillat told the "Welt am Sonntag".
"It's all about respect and gratitude."