Hockey World Cup 2018, Quarter-final 3: 3 reasons why Belgium won against Germany

Belgium got the better of European rivals Germany by a 2-1 margin (Image Courtesy: FIH Media)
Belgium got the better of European rivals Germany by a 2-1 margin (Image Courtesy: FIH Media)

Belgium etched their name in the history books as they entered the semi-finals of the Hockey World Cup for the first time in their history.

After a see-saw battle which nobody wanted to lose, Belgium got the better of European rivals Germany by a 2-1 margin at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.

Two-time World Cup winners Germany were favourites going into the game. But their performances this time were not so impressive.

The magic on the turf from the Germans was missing. Save the performance against Malaysia, this German side were not looking to be a contender for the title.

Belgium on the other hand were dominating best in their last two matches against South Africa and Pakistan.

Belgium have their best generation of players and this bunch rightly proved with their impressive performance against Germany.

Dieter Linnekogel gave Germany the lead in the 14th minute. But Belgium equalised in the second quarter through a brilliantly taken penalty corner from Alexander Hendrickx.

The third quarter remained goalless as both sides were taking a cautious approach. But Tom Boon utilised a mistake from the German defenders to put his side ahead.

Belgium will now face England in the semi-final on Saturday.

Let us look at the three reasons why Belgium won the game:


#3 Belgium kept their defence solid

The Belgian defence stood tall (Image Courtesy: FIH Media)
The Belgian defence stood tall (Image Courtesy: FIH Media)

As Germany started making all the attack right from the word go, Belgium kept the shape of their defence and waited for their turn.

Germany have some of the best attackers on their side and it was not something unusual from them.

Matts Grambusch, Christopher Ruhr and Florian Fuchs were operating from the sides and the middle as Germany had the upper hand. They deservedly took the lead as Belgium finally came short of resistance in front of a consolidated attack from the Germans.

But that seemed a momentarily lapse of concentration from the Belgian side, as they tightened their grip on the match and never committed a mistake within their own half. Germany kept pressing hard but to no avail. The Germans didn’t get a penalty corner in the whole match sums up the story.

Once again it was Arthur van Doren who stole the show in defence. He was standing like a wall in the Belgian defence and made timely interceptions, brilliant tackles and effective blocks to frustrate the Germans. Honestly, apart from the goal, Germany failed to open up Belgian defence.

#2 Walter's heroics went in vain as German defenders commit countless mistakes

The German goalkeeper must be the most disappointed man at the end of the match (Image Courtesy: FIH Media)
The German goalkeeper must be the most disappointed man at the end of the match (Image Courtesy: FIH Media)

At one point of time, the game was between Belgium and Tobias Walter. The German goalkeeper must be the most disappointed man at the end of the match as his best efforts were not enough to keep the team alive in this tournament.

Just after Germany scored, Belgium got three back to back penalty corners. The second and third shot was saved by Walter.

Both the shots were low and powerful and Walter had to show his best reflexes to prevent Alexander Hendrickx from scoring a goal.

Finally Walter conceded one despite putting his best effort. But there was no stopping of him as he pulled of another impressive save in the 23rd minute much to the frustration of the Belgian team who were finding it hard to cross the final hurdle.

In total, Belgium got nine penalty corners in the match and Walter saved at least five of them.

But his efforts were not enough as the German defender made lot of mistakes in the match, rather uncharacteristic to their nature. Tom Boon scored the winning goal using the space between the defenders and goalkeeper.

#1 Belgians make full use of counter attacks

Belgium opted for the counter attacking strategy (Image Courtesy: FIH Media)
Belgium opted for the counter attacking strategy (Image Courtesy: FIH Media)

From the beginning, Belgium opted for the counter attacking strategy. They knew that German defence would crumble in front of positive movements. The move ultimately proved successful as Tom Boon’s winning goal came from worthy counter attack.

Even in the first quarter, Belgium made quite a few counter attacks. Thomas Briels made some quick moves and the Olympic silver-medallists earned couple of penalty corners.

Their main attacker Simon Gougnard was quiet in the first quarter but he came out all guns blazing in the second as Belgium kept pressing the German defence.

The German defenders were allowing him space to run and Gougnard making it count. It was his effort which earned Belgium a penalty corner and Hendrickx scored from it.

Cedric Charlier , Sebastien Dockier and Tom Boon were also enjoying their time in the field and made couple of good counter attacks in the third quarter. However, German defenders were capable enough to stop them.

As the game were heading for a shoot-out, Belgium made another counter attack and after Briels’ shot was saved by Walter, Boon scored from the rebound using brilliant stickwork.

Quick Links

Edited by Alan John