Hockey World Cup 2018, India vs Belgium: 5 Talking Points

India almost secured a famous win
India almost secured a famous win

The Men's Hockey World Cup 2018 has one thing written clearly on the wall - this is no drab affair. Even if the result is one side, like in cases of Netherlands and India in the f, the hockey on display is nothing less than enthralling.

As such, the World Cup gave another interesting round of matches on Sunday, when the second leg of Pool C Matches went underway. Canada and South Africa weren't expected to enthrall the crowd much, but even they mesmerized the audience with their stickwork.

Even though the match turned out to be a draw, Canada won the audience's hearts with their intense attacks, and their never say die attitude, while keeping their hopes alive for progress into the next round of the World Cup.

However, the match that followed was the one every spectator at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar was eagerly waiting for. This was the match between hosts India and Olympic silver medalists Belgium. Excitement for this match was such that it was sold out weeks before the match actually even started.

As promised, the match actually turned out to be an edge of the seat thriller. While Belgium was unequivocal in its attack against India, earning a penalty corner within minutes of the beginning of the match, India had to struggle initially before drag-flicker Varun Kumar came to the rescue.

Had it not been for the classic Indian problem of conceding a goal within the dying minutes of the match, India was on the verge of another historic win in the current edition of the World Cup.

Still, the thrilling draw proved to be a blessing in disguise for India, as they just need a simple victory with a clean slate against Canada in order to progress towards the quarterfinals. Following are some of the interesting points about the match between India and Belgium.


#5 Belgium attack from the word 'Go!'

Belgium attack India from the first whistle
Belgium attack India from the first whistle

Seething in fury after having to sweat out against a rather weak Canada, Belgium went on the attacking mode from the very first whistle of the match.

Playing in the classic European style, The Red Lions gave a literal nightmare to both the home team as well as the Bhubaneswar crowd, earning a penalty corner within the first minute itself.

Had it not been for the heroics of our goalkeeper P R Sreejesh, Belgium could've earned a goal within the first minute itself.

However, he couldn't avoid their antics for long, and Belgium earned another penalty corner in the eighth minute, and this time, drag-flicker Alexander Hendricxx made no mistake, converting the penalty corner into a brilliant goal for Belgium.

Throughout the first quarter, Belgium dominated over India with ease. From short passes, to circle penetrations, they got everything on the right note. When we reached halftime, India were a goal behind Belgium.

#4 India squander chances to make a comeback in the first half

India squandered early chances to make a comeback in the first half
India squandered early chances to make a comeback in the first half

Another issue that concerned the home crowd for a while was the way India played throughout the first half.

Having conceded a goal within the first quarter of the match, it didn't look for a while as if this was the same Indian team that had pummeled South Africa with ease in the opening match.

For the whole first half, the team struggled to hit the ball right, forget even making an attempt to penetrate the circle and go for the equalizer.

From Mandeep Singh's royal miss to lack of coordination between forwards Dilpreet Singh and Lalit Upadhyay, everything seemed to go wrong for Team India throughout the first half.

Interestingly, if one looks at the statistics, they'd find that India struggled throughout the first half.

As compared to Belgium's six circle penetrations, India could make only two such penetrations.

Even the pass accuracy between Indian players was approximately 57.5%, much lesser than that of Belgium, who had an accuracy of over 66% in both the quarters of the first half.

#3 Varun Kumar to the rescue

Varun Kumar had a brilliant game
Varun Kumar had a brilliant game

However, if the attackers of the Indian team brought cheers to the home crowd in the first match, it was drag-flicker Varun Kumar, who came to India's rescue.

If India avoided another humiliating loss at the hands of Belgium, the credit goes solely to this defender, who was rightly awarded the Man of the Match for his stick work throughout the match.

The moment the third quarter began, Varun Kumar, who was playing defensively, changed his gears and went into the attacking mode.

Like Akashdeep Singh, he served as the link man between his players, and earned three penalty corners for his team, much to the delight of the home crowd.

Even though Harmanpreet Singh missed on the first drag flick, Varun Kumar did not lose hope, and earned a valuable penalty stroke, that not only enabled India to equalize the score, but also make a comeback into the match.

Sadly, he wasn't given much support by his fellow players, and his efforts went in vain when Belgium struck a goal in the last five minutes, forcing India to be content with a draw.

#2 The Junior World Cup heroes come handy

Simranjeet has been on fire in the World Cup
Simranjeet has been on fire in the World Cup

Apart from Varun Kumar, two more Junior World Cup heroes came to the rescue of the Indian team.

Harmanpreet Singh, who is India's trump card for this tournament, was extremely fierce in his attack on the Belgian goalpost.

When Varun earned a penalty stroke for the Indian team, Harmanpreet, who is the master of this genre, capitalized on this opportunity within no time to bring India back into the match.

However, the man who almost gave India another victory was Simranjeet Singh, the lanky forward who scored one of the winning goals against Belgium in the 2016 Junior Hockey World Cup finals.

Simranjeet bounced back onto the goal tally as the joint leader with a brilliant field goal in the 47th minute, and for a while, it looked as if India would romp home with another brilliant victory.

#1 The same old ailment haunts India yet again

Hockey World Cup 2018 - The same old ailment haunts India yet again
Hockey World Cup 2018 - The same old ailment haunts India yet again

However, what played spoilsport in this match, is an ailment, that has been synonymous with the Indian team ever since they missed the FIH World Cup 1994 semifinals by a whisker.

This is the classic Indian penchant of conceding a late goal in the dying minutes of the match.

By the time five minutes were left into the match, India looked all set for an impressive victory over Belgium, and also book their berth for the quarterfinals without a sweat.

However, the same old story repeated again. Despite Varun Kumar's heroics, who tried his best to avoid another goal, India conceded a late goal in the 56th minute.

Midfielder Simon Gounard found a glaring gap in the Indian defence, and wasted no opportunity to strike the ball past a helpless Sreejesh, equalizing the score again and forcing India to be content with a draw.

However, the draw has turned to be a blessing in disguise for India. Since they drew with Belgium 2-2, they have a goal difference of five goals, four more than their opponents on Sunday.

Now all India needs to do against Canada in their final match, is to keep their goals maximum, and the goals that could be conceded to a minimum.

They also need to hope that Belgium doesn't score more than five goals in their outing against South Africa, should they win that match.

Head to Sportskeeda to check out the Hockey World Cup schedule for the upcoming matches

Quick Links

Edited by Alan John