Belgium favourites but Pakistan can’t be taken lightly in crossover game
BHUBANESWAR: They may look like David and Goliath on paper, but given the stage and the openness of the World Cup, anything is possible on the second day of ‘crossovers’. With quarter-final berths at stake, all four teams will give their best to come out on top when they clash on Tuesday.
Belgium will have the upper hand against Pakistan. Ranked No 3 in the world, and unbeaten with two wins, Belgium will look to comfortably beat the four-time winners and earn a last-eight clash against Germany.
But Pakistan are no pushovers. Though they lost 1-5 to the Netherlands on Sunday, they let themselves down in the second half. In the first half, they gave the Dutch a tough time and levelled two minutes after the two-time winners opened the scoring.
“We are still in the World Cup. We have a chance and will go all out to win the game. After all the issues that happened, it did have a negative impact on the boys before the game against Holland,” assistant coach Rehan Butt said about controversies engulfing Pakistan last week.
“But now we have to motivate the players for the next match, tell them to forget what all happened. We have left behind the results of the league matches and will focus with a fresh mind in the knockouts.” In their three league games, Pakistan lost two and drew against Malaysia.
The other crossover game will be significant for India as the winner of the Netherlands vs Canada contest will take on the hosts in the last eight.
The Dutch looked menacing in their 7-0 thrashing of Malaysia but their 1-4 loss to Germany showed that the three-time winners are beatable, something Canada will be counting on. However, they showed what they are capable of once again when they crushed Pakistan 5-1 on Sunday.
“We have seen a few upsets, so we can’t take any team lightly. Crossovers don’t give you that privilege,” said Dutch coach Max Caldas. Asked about their likely quarter-final clash against India, he said, “Before that we have to play Canada. We are thinking about our crossover game.”