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India storm to top of Pool C; Belgium finish second and Canada third in Hockey World Cup

India storm to top of Pool C; Belgium finish second and Canada third in Hockey World Cup
Belgium (L) and Indian team

Bhubaneswar, Dec 8 (UNI) It all came down to goals in the final round of Pool C
matches at the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2018.
Belgium knew they had to score a lot of goals against South Africa if they were
to keep India from taking top spot in the pool. While their penalty corners were
effective, the Red Lions lacked bite when it came to scoring from field play and a
number of chances to score went to waste.
In the second match, host nation India knew they purely needed a win over Canada
in order to top the pool and win a ticket straight to the quarter-finals. A Canadian team,
who defended brilliantly for the first two quarters and were on equal terms for the first
three quarters, put pressure on India, but an exhilarating fourth quarter saw India storm
to a 5-1 win and take pole position in Pool C.
The opening game of the day was just 35 seconds old when South Africa took the
lead against their higher-ranked rivals, Belgium. Nicholas Spooner was the scorer as
he gathered the ball from a fantastic pitch-splitting pass from Rhett Halkett and then
slammed it into the corner of Vincent Vanasch's goal.
However, Shane McLeod's Red Lions have come to Bhubaneswar with a firm intention
to make the podium and the higher ranked team quickly recovered from the setback and
began to turn the screw, not just on South Africa, but also on India, who were vying with
the Red Lions for the top of the pool. At the start of the game India had a superior goal
difference – plus five to Belgium's one – so Belgium's task was clear.
McLeod says that penalty corners have been a focal point for his side and the team
soon demonstrated their efficiency in this area. Alexander Hendrickx is the in-form
penalty corner specialist for Belgium at the moment and his two goals from penalty
corners in the first half sandwiched a neatly taken field goal by Player of the Match
Simon Gougnard.
A fourth goal was added when Loick Luypaert also showed his prowess from the top
of the circle. The half-time stats spoke for themselves, while possession was nearly
equal between the teams, the significant figures for Belgium were three penalty corners,
three goals.
South Africa made their own chances in the opening 30 minutes with the best chance
falling to Dayaan Cassiem. The midfielder received the ball in the centre of the Belgium
circle and should have capitalised. His shot flew wide of Vanasch's far post.
The second half saw Belgium continuing to press forward, and Tom Boon will be
disappointed not to have added to the score when he was through on goal twice in quick
succession but was not balanced enough to shoot with any force.
A series of three Belgium penalty corners were dealt with by Gowan Jones who
replaced Rassie Pieterse in the South Africa goal. Hendrickx thought he had scored
his third goal when he slotted home a penalty corner, but the injected ball was judged
not to have left the circle before Hendrickx shot for goal.
The final minutes of the third quarter saw South Africa pile on pressure of their own.
A quick break found captain Tim Drummond on the baseline and he was able to slip
the ball back to goalscorer Spooner. Unfortunately for South Africa, Spooner shot
over the crossbar. Seconds later a penalty stroke was awarded to South Africa but
was disallowed on referral.
Belgium went into the final quarter knowing they needed to score more goals in order
to keep the pressure on India and Cedric Charlier was quick to deliver. He pounced on
a ball that was slipped from the baseline by Gougnard, who had muscled his way past
the South Africa defence.
The drama intensified in the final few minutes as Belgium sought another goal. For
their part, South Africa were working hard to find a second goal but it was Belgium who
found the net as the game came to an end. For Belgium's goal difference this was
crucial but the referral showed that the goal was scored after the final hooter had gone
and the score remained 5-1 meaning India just needed a win over Canada in the second
match of the day to finish top of the pool.
Player of the Match Simon Gougnard was in critical mood despite the win as he
discussed his team performance in the post-match interview said, "I don't think we put
enough pressure on India tonight. We started poorly and we didn't put enough pressure
on South Africa throughout the match. We made a lot of stupid mistakes in the game.
There is a lot for us to look back over and which we will work on. We must also work on
our structure and try to reduce the number of turnovers during a game. Our penalty
corner worked well, so we are quite pleased with that aspect of the game."
Belgium captain Thomas Briels added, “We did not start so well tonight but we played
better and better. I think that’s a bit the difference with the first two games where we
started really good but could not keep up our performances. So that’s really good to see.
In the end we could have scored more goals if we would have been a bit more smart.
During this first round, we played some really good hockey but we were not really
consistent, so we have to analyse that and we can improve for the next round.”
The second Pool C match pitted a stoic Canada team, who had conceded no penalty
corners prior to this match, against an Indian side determined to take the top of the
pool position.
The first quarter saw a pressure cooker of an atmosphere slowly build on the pitch and
in the stands. That tipped over in the 12th minute as Harmanpreet Singh shot his team
into the lead from a penalty corner after the Indian forwards had piled pressure onto the
Canada defence. Prior to that moment, the Canada goalkeeper Antoni Kindler and his
defence had withstood everything that Manpreet Singh and his men had thrown at them.
The second quarter saw much of the same pattern. Manpreet Singh was becoming more
and more pivotal to the India attack, sending aerial balls high and deep into the Canadian
defensive area, feeding, among others, Lalit Upadhyay who danced around the Canadian
circle but was unable to get his shot away.
Akasdeep Singh came closest to doubling the lead, as he picked up a bouncing ball and
shot to Kindler's right-hand post. The tall 'keeper was down quickly to make the save and
keep the India lead to 1-0.
While Canada were mostly playing a defensive game, they also created their own
chances. Keegan Pereira, who was born in India, forced a save from PR Sreejesh and
Floris van Son fed a lovely ball through to Oliver Scholfield but he was unable to find a
way past Sreejesh.
As the second half go under way, Harendra Singh, India's Head Coach, called for his
players to play a calmer game. He said the pressure his team was creating was good,
but to really capitalise, they had to keep their composure in front of goal.
The importance of composure in front of goal was demonstrated perfectly by Canada's
van Son who momentarily silenced the crowd when he brought Canada back on equal
terms. The player, who came in as a replacement for Brandon Pereira, was perfectly
placed to receive the ball and shoot smartly past Sreejesh.
Emerging for the final quarter, India knew they had to score and put the game to rest.
There was a definite ramping up of the pressure and with just one minute of the quarter
played, a great ball into the circle by Kothajit Khadangbam was cleared by Kindler but
picked up by Chinglensana Kangujam, who shot home to restore India's lead.
As the spectators went wild, India fed off the energy and there was a visible shift
through the gears, leaving Canada unable to match their opponent's speed and attacking
flair. Upadhyay made it 3-1 when he slammed home a few seconds later and Amit
Rohidas put the game beyond doubt when he rifled home a penalty corner to make it 4-1.
A fifth goal and a second for Upadhyay – voted Player of the Match – was the final
scoring action of the game, although Canada had to endure a series of penalty corners
before the final whistle blew. Despite the loss, Canada qualify for the cross-over matches
by virtue of a better goal difference than South Africa.
Head Coach Harendra Singh said, "We really respect Canada because they made us
struggle in the first half. In the second half we stuck to our game plan. They relaxed more
in the final quarter, they waited for the opportunities and they came in the fourth quarter.
Now, we are in the play-off rounds, we are about to start climbing a mountain so there
will be less oxygen, the fittest will survive. We will rest now and prepare and plan for the
quarter finals. I think the right preparations, the right mood and the right atmosphere will
help us achieve our targets.”
Manpreet Singh, India captain, added, “I think we played very well today. But I think in
the second and third quarters we lacked of energy. However in the fourth quarter we put
more energy and we got quite good goals. Obviously it was important for us to finish at
the top of the pool. That’s why we played very well today.”
On Sunday, the final matches in Pool D will take place, with Malaysia facing Germany
at 1700 hours before all the pool matches are wrapped up when Netherlands take on
Pakistan at 1900 hours.
Germany are currently top of Pool D with two wins from two matches, including a 4-1
win over their European rivals Netherlands and a 1-0 win over Pakistan. Netherlands are
in second place on three points and Pakistan are holding onto third place ahead of
Malaysia, with a healthy goal difference. The pool winner will earn a direct ticket to the
quarter finals, while the teams that finish second and third will go into the cross-over
play-offs. The team that finishes fourth will be eliminated from the competition.
Speaking ahead of Sunday's matches, Head Coach to Malaysia, Roelant Oltmans,
said, "The performance of Malaysia is clearly disappointing so far. The second match
was a lot better but unfortunately we didn’t manage to get the necessary win out of it.
The last match will be very difficult against Germany, one of the favourites for the title,
but for sure we’ll fight for a positive result."
Clearly delighted with his team's results so far, Stefan Kermas, Head Coach to Germany,
said, "I´m happy with the general performance so far and winning the first two matches.
We improved offensively against the Dutch, although we conceded too many turnovers in
our build up. We are happy with the start, knowing that a clear 4:1 win was achieved after
a really tight first 50 minutes. We want to finish the pool at the top, so winning against
Malaysia is our aim. Keeping the rhythm of play plus improving next steps in our game
would be the perfect fit from a coach's perspective."
And Germany's stalwart defender Martin Häner added, "We‘re quite happy with our
results so far, but we also know that we haven‘t played our best hockey yet. The last
pool match is very important because we want to finish first in our group and go straight
through to the quarter finals. Furthermore, it‘s important to keep our rhythm and stay
focused to show our best hockey in 'do or die' matches."
UNI XC-BM

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