Last Update: January 06, 2023, 14:42 IST
Belgium coach Michel van den Heuvel (Twitter)
Michel van den Heuvel said the senior experienced players will give the Olympic champions a huge advantage in their FIH Hockey World Cup campaign.
Defending champions Belgium will rely on experienced mid-fielders like John-Jon Dohmen to provide them with the winning momentum to keep FIH Hockey afloat. World The cup starts on January 13 in Odisha.
Head coach Michel van den Heuvel said a player like Dohmen, with more than 400 international caps, would give the Olympic champions a huge advantage in their campaign.
The defending champions are placed in Pool B along with Germany, Japan and Korea. They will take on Korea here on January 14.
“Well, they are all very experienced and they know the game. They (players like Dohmann) have played here before and won trophies. So, even though we are in difficult conditions this time, their presence helps the team. It’s great to have him in our squad,” Huewell said.
If Felix Denayer-led Red Lions are able to retain the title here, they will become only the fourth country after Pakistan (1978, 1982), Germany (2002, 2006) and Australia (2010, 2014) to win back-to-back titles. men’s edition of the Hockey World Cup.
“We prepared really well. We went to a training camp in Spain where we won all our games. So, there’s a lot of belief in our squad that we will do well in the tournament,” Denier said on Friday.
“But obviously, we know it’s always going to be a tough competition, so we’re really, really excited to get started,” he said.
Listing the teams he believes would pose a challenge to Belgium, Denyer said Australia, the Netherlands and Germany would be tough, while India Will enjoy domestic benefits.
“I think there are a lot of favourites. Obviously, Australia then I think Netherlands, Germany and India are always strong rivals at home. Then there are teams that are doing well such as England and Argentina, so I think It’s not going to be an easy contest for anyone,” the skipper said.
Recalling the thrilling final between his team and the Dutch during the 2018 World Cup, the skipper said the same intense drama can be witnessed this time around.
In the 2018 final, decided by a shoot-out, Arthur de Slover’s winning shot in the shoot-out was disallowed after review, and the Belgian team had to cut short their celebrations.
But Belgian goalkeeper Vincent Wansch managed to make Dutch player Jonas de Geus miss his final shot and celebrations resumed in the Belgian camp. The Red Lions won 3–2 after the match ended in a goalless draw.
On whether similar scenes could be witnessed during this edition of the World Cup, Denier said, “Yes, I think the tournament will be a challenge, but we have experience as well so we feel confident and we will win the trophy.” We are very hungry to keep up. We are an ambitious group. And I think we need challenges like these to perform at our best.”
Shane McLeod, who led Belgium to World Cup and Tokyo Olympics 2020 trophies, is the assistant coach and the players will also look to learn from his experiences from the 2018 World Cup.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)