Great Britain men aim third hockey medal at home

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Best result: Won gold at 1908 London Games (England beat Ireland 8-1), 1920 Antwerp Games (champions by the virtue of winning all games) and 1988 Seoul Games (beat West Germany 3-1).

Last Olympics: Finished fifth

Great Britain competes as one team 12 months before every Olympics while they play for teams like England, Wales and Scotland at other times. Great Britain have been a traditional powerhouse at the Olympics but their last medal had come 24 years ago, at the Seoul Games.

They have won a silver at the 1948 Games, also held in London, and a couple of bronzes, at the 1952 Helsinki and 1984 Los Angeles Games. Their performance, however, has improved since the 2008 Olympics. England claimed the EuroHockey Nations Championship in 2009, finished fourth at the 2010 World Cup and runners up at the Champions Trophy the same year. They finished third in this year's EuroHockey tournament.

The Road to London:
Great Britain are the hosts to this year's Olympics and hence earned an automatic berth.

Players to watch out for:
Skipper Barry Middleton, with 257 caps, is one of the mainstays of the team. He, along with James Tindall and Ashley Jackson, have scored over 70 goals for their team. Former Ireland player Iain Lewers will also look forward to prove his mettle at the Olympics.

Plus:
1. A very talented side. The fact that players like Richard Alexander and the Mantell brothers, who share 500 caps between them, were left oout of the lost of 16, shows the depth of talent in the team.
2. Home support
3. Experience

Minus:
1. Great Britain have a tendency to crumble under pressure and the high expectation on the home turf will undoubtedly be a challenge for the British players

Chances of progress at the London Olympics: 8/10
Great Britain should have it easy to make the semi-finals for only Australia is a better-ranked team in their group. But having said that, there is very little gap between teams in modern hockey and the hosts must have a good start in the tournament. Teams like Pakistan, Argentina and Spain will not spare them an inch. Great Britain won hockey medals in both the 1908 and 1948 editions when London hosted the mega showdown and they can find themselves back in the podium this time. Great Britain will play their first match against Argentina on July 30.

Squad:
Barry Middleton (c), James Fair (gk), Nicholas Catlin, Jonathan Clarke, Daniel Fox, Mathew Daly, Ashley Jackson, Ben Hawes, Iain Lewers, Glenn Kirkham, James Tindall, Iain Mackay, Harry Martin, Robert Moore, Richard Smith, Alastair Wilson. Reserves: Richard Mantell and George Pinner (gk).

Coach:
Jason Lee, the head coach, will be making his fifth Olympic apperance this time. He was a player in the 1992 and 1996 editions and coached the team at the 2004 and 2008 Games. The team improved its Olympic ranking from ninth in 2004 to fifth in 2008 and will look to improve on that.

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