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The Indian men’s hockey team will meet Belgium in the semi-final of the Hockey World League (HWL) semis. Belgium are ranked 4th in the world rankings, 5 places above where the Indian team resides.
The Indian team skipper, Sardar Singh believes that converting those penalty corners at the crucial time in the last quarter of the match was the main reason India saw the quarter-final clash against Malaysia through. He ensured even Jasjit Singh, the scorer of the last two goals, would have gained a lot of confidence from his performance and that will help him in the match against the Belgians.
The Hockey India official site reported the captain as saying, “We are confident of the match tomorrow as the team is high form. Yesterday what worked in our favour was our converting the penalty corners at crucial times.
“I am sure the two back to back goals by Jasjit would have given his confidence a boost and we are confident he will stand up to tomorrow’s test again.”
The captain urged the team to tighten up its defence in order to blunt down the opposition attack and keep a tight ship at the back.
At the pre-match press conference, Sardar Singh said, “Also the upcoming clash we have to beef up our defence chain as Belgium is known for sneaking in the goals and we will not want to give them easy access to our D.”
Indian men’s team head coach, Paul van Ass expressed his concerns with the defence as Belgium is known for attacking hockey and penetrating the opposition circle with ease as compared to other teams.
He admitted in the same press conference, “Yesterday while we won the match we have to work on our defence. We have to score the initial goal and maintain the lead thereafter and now allow the game to get away from our hands at any point.”
The Dutchman warned the team to be alert at all times and not let the match fall away from their hands.
“Belgium is a tough team and we have to be completely alert with them tomorrow,” concluded Van Ass.
He looked satisfied with the penalty corner conversion of the Indian side and hoped that to continue for the upcoming match against the Belgians.
India will play Belgium in a semi-final clash on 3rd July.
The match will be telecast LIVE on Star Sports at 22:00 IST.
