Spanish Hockey Team Stroll into Pakistan at Wagah, Have Tea with Rangers

Spain’s men’s field hockey team shunned the offer of air travel to instead cross the picturesque Wagah border between India and Pakistan and enjoy a cup of tea with the commanding officer of the Pakistan Rangers frontier guards.

Spain coach Maurits Hendricks, whose team had just completed two matches against India and was traveling to Pakistan to contest the Champions Trophy, described the Wednesday night journey through the only legal land crossing between the two countries as a “once in a lifetime experience.”

“It was a wonderful experience,” Dutch-born Hendricks told reporters Thursday at Lahore’s National Hockey Stadium. “If you want to know about these two countries (India and Pakistan), you have to cross Wagah border…