Belgian diamonds that took a decade to polish!

It is easy to label Belgium’s victory as a fairytale or a miracle but that would be unfair. The triumph in Bhubaneswar, 7698 km away from Brussels, took the team a decade of planning, losing and persevering.

On December 16, in front of an appreciative, over-capacity crowd of 17,000 in the temple city of Bhubaneswar,

Thomas Briels lifted the Hockey World Cup and walked into history books as the first Belgian to do so in any team sport.

Forty-eight hours later, the Red Lions were singing La Brabanconne, the Belgian national anthem, in the Brussels city square, with more than 6000 supporters cheering the team for its triumph in a sport that doesn’t rate anywhere near the top in the country.

It is easy to label Belgium’s victory as a fairytale or a miracle but that would be unfair. The triumph in Bhubaneswar, 7698 km away from Brussels, took the team a decade

AP Mission accomplished: The Belgian hockey team finally accomplished its federation’s ‘Be Gold’ programme.