Belgium brush aside Pak to book berth in quarter-finals
Four-time champions no match for European giants, who cruise to a 5-0 win
BHUBANESWAR: 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 clearly visible at the Kalinga Stadium on Tuesday.
The most successful team in the history of the World Cup, Pakistan were a shadow of themselves in the crossover game as they 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. It’s very good for our confidence for the rest of the tournament. 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. Belgium will now face two-time champions Germany in the quarter-finals on Thursday, eyeing a maiden semi-final berth.
“We are looking to improve. Our game is not perfect yet but we are ready for Germany. They have got an extra bit of rest, so we have to be 100 per cent. They beat Holland as well. We have to be patient with them. Germany defends really well so we won’t have the same chances like today,” said Briels.
Belgium pressed on the accelerator from the whistle and literally parked themselves in the Pakistani half. The Red Lions made as many as 31 circle entries, double that of Pakistan, to create chances. However, one area of concern for the Belgians is the penalty-corner conversion which may come to haunt them in the last-8 stage. Out of the seven chances they got, the world No.3 team could convert only one.
Four-time champions Pakistan, on the other hand, will go home without winning a single game here. Beaten by Germany and thrashed by the Netherlands, they could only draw 1-1 against Asian rivals Malaysia.
“We are not satisfied that we are going back without a win. We should not have conceded five goals. For almost 20 minutes, we played with 10 men, which affected our game,” said Pakistan manager Hassan Sardar.
Pakistan played rough too as three of their players were carded (two green and one yellow). “We were also playing without our captain Muhammad Rizwan for the last two games which affected our campaign.”