India will be keen to clear a stern test awaiting them in the World Cup here on Sunday, when they meet world No. 3 Belgium, to guarantee a direct entry into the quarter finals.
Seeking to rewrite history after 43 years, the Indian men’s hockey team made a strong start in the elite 16-nation tournament, with a 5-0 thrashing of South Africa on Wednesday. Rio Olympic silver medallist Belgium were far from impressive in their fighting 2-1 win over lowly Canada. Eight-time Olympic champions India’s only World Cup crown came way back in 1975.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Jeroen Hertzberger scored a hat-trick to help last edition silver medallist Netherlands spank a hapless Malaysia 7-0 in a lopsided Pool D encounter. Besides Hertzberger (11th, 29th, 60th minutes), Mirco Pruijser (21st), Mink van der Weerden (35th), Robbert Kemperman and Thierry Brinkman (57th) were the other goal scorers for the three-time champions.
In a later match, four-time champions Pakistan produced a lion-hearted performance before going down 0-1 to Olympic bronze medallist Germany. The only goal of the match was scored by Germany’s Marco Miltkau in the 36th minute.
Come Sunday, the Indians will have to be at their best in all departments to get the better of the ever-improving Red Lions, who will be out to prove a point after a not-so-impressive opener.
The Indian forward line comprising Mandeep Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Akashdeep Singh and Lalit Upadhyay impressed against South Africa. While Simranjeet scored a brace, all three other strikers struck a goal each.
The Manpreet Singh-led midfield and the backline too did a decent job the other day but defenders Harmanpreet Singh, Birendra Lakra, Surender Kumar and goalkeeper P R Sreejesh will have to be on their toes against the attacking Belgians.
World No. 5 India would also look to better their head-to-head record against Belgium. Since 2013, both teams have played against each other on 19 occasions with India registering five wins as against Belgium’s 13. One ended in a draw.
The last time the two teams played each other was in the final edition of the Champions Trophy earlier this year in Breda, Netherlands where India conceded a late goal to settle for a 1-1 draw.
