Dutch maul Canada, set up quarter-final against India
DOMINATION Netherlands cruise to a 5-0 win in crossover, neighbours Belgium knock out Pakistan
BHUBANESWAR: Manpreet Singh knows India face a huge task in the quarter-finals which is why, despite being unwell, he was at the Kalinga Stadium on Tuesday.
Watching from the stands, the skipper wanted to measure their next opponents and for good reason as he saw Netherlands demolish Canada 5-0 in the crossover game and enter the last-8 stage.
The Dutchmen have been solid, and apart from losing 4-1 to Germany, they have thrashed every opponent they have faced.
Thijs van Dam (40th and 58th) scored a brace while Lars Balk (16th), Robbert Kemperman (20th) and Thierry Brinkman (41st) scored once each.
World No.11 Canada will return empty-handed as they failed to win even a single game in the tournament.
The Dutch were fluid, maintained their formation for almost the entire game and created as many as 38 circle entries in comparison to Canada’s six.
“We played a great game. We’ll take some rest and prepare for the next game against India. It’s good that we are entering quarter-finals with a big win,” said Dutch defender Jorrit Croon.
Earlier in the day, the gap between the former masters of the game and a team that has slowly risen to the top echelons of the hockey world was visible.
The most successful team in World Cup history, Pakistan went down 5-0 to Belgium, who showed they have come here to settle for nothing less than the title. Alexander Hendrickx (10th minute), captain Thomas Briels (13th), Cedric Charlier (27th), Sebastien Dockier (35th) and Tom Boon (53rd) were on the mark, giving the Rio Olympics silver medallists a clean-sheet victory.
“Very happy to score five goals without conceding one. We really wanted to control the game from the start and for 60 minutes we were consistent, holding the ball and creating chances,” said skipper Briels, whos side will now face two-time champions Germany in the quarters on Thursday for a maiden semi-final berth.