KUALA LUMPUR – Is Pakistan a big threat to the Red Lions?
Belgium was surprised to witness Pakistan put up a good fight against their arch rivals, the Netherlands, in their opening group D match at the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup today.
Belgium head coach Jeroen Baart said he fears Pakistan could put an end to their World Cup dreams.
“The situation in our group is very unpredictable now. Pakistan looks strong under the leadership of Roelant Oltmans.
“I watched their game earlier, and I was impressed with their attacking and defending throughout the match.
“We are familiar with the gameplay of the Netherlands as we have a similar style of play, but we have never had the chance to go against the Pakistani side, and it’s going to be tough for us to stop them as they are very physical and play a lot of high balls,” said Baart, in a post-match conference today.
Jeroen also said he’s happy that his side did not concede a goal in their opening match against New Zealand and hopes to continue his non-negotiable approach for the rest of the tournament.
Belgium defeated New Zealand 4-0 at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil today.
“It’s a great feeling to start the tournament without conceding a goal as it gives us a strong mathematical advantage in our group, which is already strong.
“We are not going to negotiate on our energetic displays, and we plan to keep going in the tournament as far as we can.
“I hope that our win today against New Zealand will give us the boost to give our best against the Netherlands tomorrow,” Jeroen added.
Meanwhile, New Zealand head coach Aaron Ford said he was disappointed with the defeat, but still hopes that the Black Sticks can progress to the next round.
“It’s not the result that we wanted, and our confidence went down after Belgium scored the two early goals of the match.
“We were not good at tracking back when we lost the ball, and we need to improve this before our next game against Pakistan.
“We lost 3-2 against them in the Sultan of Johor Cup, and we are aware that it’s going to be a tough match.
“But we are not going to mourn about it, and we are going to man up and fight for a win in the next match as I believe that my team has the quality,” said Ford.
Belgium took the lead in the 18th minute, through Hugo Labouchere with a penalty shot, while Jack Vloeberghs dribbled past three New Zealand defenders to score in the penalty box in the 19th minute.
The Red Lions’ other two goals were scored by Louis Depelsenaire (21st) and Thomas Crols (34th). – December 6, 2023