All posts tagged: india vs belgium junior hockey world cup quarterfinals

Junior Hockey World Cup: India come through emotional rollercoaster against Belgium to reach semifinals | Hockey News

Junior Hockey World Cup: India come through emotional rollercoaster against Belgium to reach semifinals | Hockey News

After going three league matches without conceding a goal at the FIH Junior World Cup, it didn’t take long for India to realise the enormity of the challenge that awaited them against Belgium in the quarterfinals. In the very first minute, Princedeep Singh was called into action as Marin van Heel was found on the edge of the circle with space to work with, and a powerful shot had to be palmed away by the No.16 high to his left. In the end, it was the young goalkeeper, inspired by another No.16 in PR Sreejesh to take up goalkeeping, who had the final say on a night of incredible drama. Belgium took the lead, India hit back twice to lift the roof at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium, before the Europeans equalised in the final minute to force a shootout at 2-2. India then prevailed in a rather extraordinary tiebreaker to reach the semifinals, where they will face Germany on Sunday. Before the match, Sreejesh’s advice to his wards was simple: enjoy the pressure, and remember …

FIH Men’s Junior World Cup: After sailing through group phase, India face tough test against Belgium in knockout quarterfinal | Hockey News

FIH Men’s Junior World Cup: After sailing through group phase, India face tough test against Belgium in knockout quarterfinal | Hockey News

It’s fairly common to see a hockey team take off its goalkeeper when chasing a match, fielding 11 outfield players and going on an all-out attack. But what happened in Madurai on Tuesday at the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup was rather extraordinary. In their last Pool D match against Egypt, when leading 1-0 after the first quarter, Belgium decided to take their goalkeeper Alexis van Havere off. Egypt nearly scored immediately with an aerial into the circle before being thwarted by a desperate goal-line clearance by a defender. Still, Belgium’s situation was such that they simply had to take that risk and not worry about the downsides. The only way Belgium could reach the quarterfinals was to beat Egypt by a massive margin to sneak in as the second-best second-placed team across the six pools. The Young Red Lions, who had lost 0-2 against Spain to find themselves in a precarious situation, beat Egypt 10-0, which meant the other contenders had too much to do to make up the goal difference. That’s the sort …