Bhubaneswar: Olympic silver medallist Belgium thrashed South Africa 5-1 in their last Pool C match to remain in the hunt for a direct quarterfinal berth at the Men’s Hockey World Cup here, Saturday. However, South Africa’s journey in tournament ends after hosts India thrash Canada 5-1 to qualify directly to the finals.
Alexander Hendrickx (14th, 22nd minutes) scored a brace while Simon Gougnard (18th), Loick Luypaert (30th) and Cedric Charlier (48th) were the other goal getters for Belgium.
South Africa, on the other hand, stunned the World No.3 side just 36 seconds from the start through Nicholas Spooner’s field strike.
Contrary to prevailing pre-match expectations, South Africa began in stunning fashion by scoring a goal at a matter of seconds into the game through Spooner.
Spooner’s first-minute strike might have caught them by surprise but Belgium demonstrated their tenacity with a power-packed performance in the subsequent 59 minutes.
In what was a crucial Pool C game in the 2018 HWC, Belgium eroded India’s advantage of goal difference with a scintillating victory.
Adopting a high press game, Belgium earned three penalty corners in the first half. Remarkably, they converted all of those into goals. Gougnard and Charlier chipped in with sublime field goals to extend the Red Lions’ ascendancy.
In such a lopsided scoreline, one must be wondering how a South African player managed to slip into this list by displacing a Belgian. However, Spooner not only scored the sublime opening goal but also battled valiantly against the rampaging Red Lions.
Latching on to a long pass from the midfield, Spooner found himself in considerable empty space as only one defender as well as Vincent Vanasch stood in his vicinity.
The 27-year old went with the flow and unleashed a powerful shot as soon as he entered into the inner circle. The fact that he managed to beat such an accomplished goalkeeper stood as a testament to the ferocity and accuracy of his strike.
After scoring a rare World Cup goal for South Africa, Spooner impressed with his commitment to cover enormous distance on the field.
One such example came at the end of the second quarter when he dived full stretch on the turf to prevent a dangerous pass from Arthur van Doren reaching the lurking attacker.
Amidst many impressive performers for Belgium in this match, Gougnard was deservedly bestowed with the Player of the Match award. Aside from scoring a crucial second-quarter goal to lift the World No.3 team into the lead, the 27-year old was also at the forefront of numerous incisive circle penetrations right throughout the game.
With Van Doren and Luypaert bewitching the South African midfielders, Gougnard received a long pass at a promising position. After creating further space for himself by manoeuvring the ball, he produced a low and flat shot to leave no chance for South African goalkeeper Rassie Pieterse.
Adding to his sparkling goal in Belgium’s previous match against hosts India, Hendrickx created an indelible impact with a couple of potent drag-flicks against the feeble South African defence.
With the Red Lions getting frustrated after conceding the early goal, the onus was on their drag-flickers to rise to the occasion during the first quarter.
In the 14th minute, Hendrickx levelled the scores by unfurling a strong and low drag-flick to beat the opposition custodian. Following Gougnard’s field goal at the start of the second quarter, Belgium were on the offensive.
During the 22nd minute, Hendrickx produced another sterling strike to consolidate the Red Lions’ dominance. He could have had a hat-trick but his third drag-flick was revoked by video review as the ball did not leave the circle before the shot was launched.
