Olympic champions Belgium will look to overcome a resilient Germany and become only the fourth country to defend FIH men’s hockey World The title clash between the two teams in the final here on Sunday.
Pakistan, Australia and Germany have won back-to-back titles in the past and Belgium, who broke into the world’s elite almost a decade ago, will look to build on that feat and defend the title they won in 2018. I won Same Kalinga Stadium.
With 11 players above 30 and three above 35, the ‘golden generation’ of Belgian hockey players who won 2018 World Cup and Tokyo Olympic gold have shown they are supremely fit and age Experience matters more than anything. Belgium has come with a large contingent that had won the previous edition of the event and the Tokyo Games.
It’s hard to spot any major weaknesses in this Belgian team, which boasts some of the best attacking and defensive players in the world, as well as penalty corner specialists.
They have one of the best goalkeepers in the world in Vincent Vanash.
Belgium have scored 18 goals, with seven contributions from star striker Tom Boon, and have conceded just five goals in the same number of matches.
But the world No. 2 will be wary of the “German culture of resilience” which has been on full display this World Cup as Die Hönnämäs twice recovered from 0-2 down to reach the final.
Two-time champions Germany (2002 and 2006) were trailing by two goals against England in the quarter-finals, but scored twice in the last two and a half minutes to take them to a penalty shootout, where they emerged winners.
In Friday’s semi-final, the world number four German was again trailing title contenders Australia 0-2 at half-time, but her never-say-die attitude came to the fore as she scored an early equalizer to equalise. struggled. Dramatically finding the winner with only six seconds left on the clock.
“We have a lot of respect for the German side that came out of jail and won twice in this tournament. It’s something that’s in their culture,” said Belgium head coach Michel van del Heuvel.
“Germany is a very tough side. We hope to save our best for last. We will analyze their game and draw up our plans,” said Belgium captain Felix Denayer.
The depth in the Belgian team can also be gauged from the fact that penalty corner specialist and star defender Alexandre Hendricks was missing due to injury early in the tournament.
The only chink in their armor could be that Belgium rely mostly on Boon to score goals. Florent van Aubel, Cedric Charlier and Sébastien Dockier have scored just two goals each.
Arthur van Dooren and Arthur De Slover will be the main men in Belgium’s defense while captain Denayer and Victor Vagnez will try to control the midfield.
Germany, on the other hand, is looking to clinch its first title since 2006 and join the club of other three nations that have won the World Cup three or more times. In addition to the advantage of recording two come-from-behind victories, the German has been able to be successful in a variety of playing situations.
Germany adopted a man-to-man marking game against England, while they played a regional system against Australia in the semi-finals.
He did not allow the normally fluid Australian players to play their attacking style of play, with more ball possession.
The form of penalty corner specialist Gonzalo Pilat, who won 2016 Olympic gold with Argentina but now represents Germany, will be key for Die Honmaas as his hat-trick played a key role in their 4-3 win over Australia.
“We need to continue to believe in ourselves, our ability and our mental toughness. Our ball possession game against Australia was incredible and we want to continue that. We want to win the World Cup,” said German captain Mats Grambusch. The two sides were together in the same group and there was nothing to separate them in a 2–2 draw in the Pool B match.
Tom Grambusch and Niklas Wellen, the younger brother of captain Mats, scored in that match and the pair will once again be Germany’s key players on Sunday.
Tom will be the defensive bulwark while Wellen, man of the match against Australia, has been the standout player for Germany in this event, scoring six goals in as many games with his mesmerizing efforts in the opposition circle.
Historically too, there hasn’t been much to differentiate the two teams, with Belgium winning 15 of the 35 matches they have played against each other. Germany has won 13 times while seven matches have ended in draws.
Since July 2017, Germany have beaten Belgium only once in an FIH Pro League match in November last year.
Semi-final losers Australia and Netherlands will lock horns in the bronze medal match earlier in the day.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)