Hockey World Cup 2018, India vs Belgium: 5 Talking Points

#1 The same old ailment haunts India yet again

Hockey World Cup 2018 - The same old ailment haunts India yet again

However, what played spoilsport in this match, is an ailment, that has been synonymous with the Indian team ever since they missed the FIH World Cup 1994 semifinals by a whisker.

This is the classic Indian penchant of conceding a late goal in the dying minutes of the match.

By the time five minutes were left into the match, India looked all set for an impressive victory over Belgium, and also book their berth for the quarterfinals without a sweat.

However, the same old story repeated again. Despite Varun Kumar's heroics, who tried his best to avoid another goal, India conceded a late goal in the 56th minute.

Midfielder Simon Gounard found a glaring gap in the Indian defence, and wasted no opportunity to strike the ball past a helpless Sreejesh, equalizing the score again and forcing India to be content with a draw.

However, the draw has turned to be a blessing in disguise for India. Since they drew with Belgium 2-2, they have a goal difference of five goals, four more than their opponents on Sunday.

Now all India needs to do against Canada in their final match, is to keep their goals maximum, and the goals that could be conceded to a minimum.

They also need to hope that Belgium doesn't score more than five goals in their outing against South Africa, should they win that match.

Head to Sportskeeda to check out the Hockey World Cup schedule for the upcoming matches