Rajeev Kumar
Bhubaneswar, Dec 13: The story could have been different for Belgium and England had they not been bulldozed by an inspired India and a tactical Germany respectively in the quarterfinals. But then in sports scripts are often written not by people but by opportunities, whether lost or taken.
While both the European teams started their Champions Trophy campaign on a promising note as they remained unbeaten in the pool stage, they failed to continue their winning run against constantly improving sides.
The shocks from the quarterfinal continued to affect their performance Saturday when they were trying to book a berth for the fifth and sixth place tie to be played Sunday.
In the first match played between the Belgium and the Netherlands, the latter started their domination from the very beginning itself as they continuously attacked the Red Lion’s post and even though they missed on two penalty corner conversions (fourth minute), they succeeded in scoring the lead (11th minute), courtesy Jeroen Hertzberger who found himself in a perfect position and unmarked in the Belgium ‘D’ to hit a Robert van der Horst pass from the right flank.
Incidentally, the Dutch were also shocked by Pakistan 2-4 in the quarterfinals but they looked more composed and in no mood of taking the game lightly from the word go.
Just before going into the break, the Oranjes doubled their score from a field goal by Sander Bart (30th) who again found himself in a perfect position in the Belgium ‘D’ to bank on a pass from the field flummox the Belgium Goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch and hit the goal.
In the second half, however, the Red Lions came back strongly with a number of counter attacks but they were guilty of missing at least two penalty corners, much to the dismay of Tom Boon who looked the most desperate for a goal. His desperation was rewarded in the fourth quarter (49th) where he managed to hit low past the Netherlands goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak, despite of slipping in the Dutch ‘D’.
The Dutch also managed to finally convert a penalty corner (60th) before the sounding of the hooter to set the stage for the first penalty shootout of the tournament.
However, it was not a day for the Red Lions. The Dutch brought in Jaap Stockmann for the shoot-out who made crucial saves on Tanguy Cosyns and Florent van Aubel to give the Dutch a 4-2 shoot-out win.
In the second match of the day, Argentina had a hard-fought 2-1 win over England, courtesy two penalty corner conversions from Gonzal Peillat (25th, 48th) in the second and fourth quarter. For the Three Lions, only Ashley Jackson could score from a penalty corner (12th).
Argentina and the Netherlands will now vie for the fifth and sixth place Sunday, while the Belgium and England will play for the bottom two positions.
