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The proceedings at the 14th edition of the Hockey World Cup were started with an encounter between Belgium and Canada on November 28. The highly anticipated tournament is being held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Belgium vs Canada was the first match to be played on the initial day of the mega event and was followed by a match between the hosts India and South Africa.
It was never going to be an easy task for 11th ranked Canada as they were up against the mighty Belgians, who are currently ranked 3rd in the world as per the FIH Rankings. The Red Lions are a formidable unit and were coming into the clash as the favourites.
Belgium had finished as runners-up during the Rio Olympics and bagged the silver medal. On the contrary, Canada narrowly missed out on the wooden spoon (and finished 2nd overall) in Brazil as they grabbed one point thanks to a 2-2 draw against India in Group B.
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The North American side, which is coached by Paul Bundy, finished in the 8th spot the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The Canadians only managed to finish at 11th place in the 2010 Hockey World Cup and did not even qualify for the 2014 edition in the Netherlands.
On the other hand, the Belgian team started 2018 on a high but had a slump of form during the recently concluded six-nation Champions Trophy at Breda where they finished 5th out of 6 teams. Despite this brief setback, Shane McLeod and his troops are one of the favourites for the title in Bhubaneswar as they will be hungry to improve upon the 5th place finish in the previous edition.
In the 9 matches the two teams have played previously, 7 had been won by the Red Lions while 2 had been draws. Canada are yet to win a match against Belgium, who take their tally of wins to 8 with the 2-1 win today.
The battle between the two contrasting sides was that of Belgium's attack and Canada's defense. Without further ado, let's dive into the 5 talking points of the first match of the Hockey World Cup which was played between Belgium and Canada in front of a sparsely populated crowd:
#5 Attacking mindset and an early goal by Belgium in Quarter 1
The Red Lions created a flurry of chances early on and had the Canadian team on the backfoot. The penetration by the Belgian attackers and midfielders was just too hot to handle. Felix Denayer made the most of the opportunity he got and helped his side get the lead in the 3rd minute itself as he deflected a fast grounded pass into the net. Tom Boon also must be credited for firing in the vicious ball into a dangerous area.
The 2017 European Championship silver medallists were indeed showing why they are number 3 in the world. Even though the possession was evenly divided in the first quarter, Canada had most of the possession in their own half while Belgium had over 77 % possession in the opposition half.
On the other hand, even though Canada enjoyed 53% possession in the first quarter, 78% of it was in their own half. How will maintaining possession in your own territory be helpful though?
Belgium made 6 circle penetrations in the first quarter itself and had 4 shots compared to 1 circle penetration and 0 shots of Canada.
There was another impressive attack by Belgium after good play from the right flank. Tom Boons had kept the ball in play to assist Thomas Briels. However, he had done so with the back of his stick and the free hit went to the opposition. Briels had started to celebrate but the referee went for the video referral -- which clearly showed that the ball had struck the back of Tom's stick and the goal had to be ruled out.
The impact of missing out on this goal was not too much on the result as the Belgian team went on to win the match 2-1 in the end. However, this goal would certainly have provided them a cushion and they would not have had to scramble in the end.
#4 Belgium squander 7 penalty corners
Belgium won their first Penalty corner in the 19th minute. Luypaert fired it in but it was right down the middle and Kindler, the Canadian keeper, was able to make a save. Their next Penalty corner came in the 3rd quarter -- in the 34th minute. Hendrickk's shot found a Canadian body on the way and the Belgians won their 3rd Penalty corner. Kindler was there to deny the shot heading towards goal once more. Again, the shot was more central but it was a good save by the Canadian custodian nonetheless and the credit cannot be taken away from him.
The 4th penalty corner was won in the 39th minute. Tom Boon won it for his team. However, Hendrickk's shot was fired wide of goal this time around. The 5th Penalty corner was a little too high and a free out was given to the opposition. Luypaert's shot was deemed as dangerous as it was above knee height -- which resulted in the free out being awarded to Canada.
Canada, on the other hand, got their first penalty corner in the 47th minute. Even they were denied by Belgium's custodian from Vincent Vanasch. However, they made Belgium pay when they got another Penalty corner in the very next minute and got a goal back after a goalline scramble. The North American side converted 1 of the 2 PCs they got.
Belgium got a two back to back Penalty corners 2nd last minute. However, Kindler was there to deny them again. A team like Belgium would feel they could have certainly done better and had a much better penalty corner conversion as they failed to convert any of their 7 PCs.
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#3 Belgian players tightly knit as a unit
The Red Lions displayed some really nice pieces of play in the first half of the match itself showed some positive signs. Their captain and star forward Thomas Briels was always in the thick of things.
Arthur Van Doren passed the ball to his captain Briels in the circle, who in turn took a beautiful turn towards goal and fired in a peach of a shot to double the lead for Belgium. Even Kindler had no answer to such a fierce shot. Charlier and Tom Boon were also extremely impressive and worked hard on the field.
However, the highlight of the match was the understanding between the Belgian team and Briels as well as coach Shane McLeod must be credited for it. The positioning of the Belgian team was spot on. Their strategy of sitting back in their own half and breaking in the opposition half with intent worked really well in the first half.
The Red Lions were unpredictable to the opposition. The Belgian defense was also tightly knit and did their job well for the major part of the match. Arthur Van Doren a delight to watch on the field. He was also named the player of the match for his wonderful performance.
#2 Rock-solid Canadian goalkeeper
If it were not for Antoni Kindler, Canada could have gone on to concede many more goals. The Red Lions got a penalty corner in the 19th minute of the game. Luypaert fired in a shot but it was not in the corner. Nonetheless, Kindler had to make a terrific reflex save to deny Belgium their 2nd goal. Van Aubel hit a really powerful shot in the 21st minute but Kindler was on the back of it again.
Kindler made a great save in the 3rd Penalty corner as well and has the marvellous ability to watch the ball closely till the very end.
The Canadian custodian was one of the very few bright spots for Canada in the entire match. The other bright spot was that Canadian defenders held the opposition players well in the third quarter and did not let them extend their lead further. They also did well in the attack in the final quarter.
Belgium got back-to-back Penalty corners in the final few minutes but Kindler was again rock-solid to deny them both the times.
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#1 Lack of belief from Canada in the first half
The Canadian players were moving the ball around well in their own half but were lacking the attacking intent in the first half. This can be reflected as -- even though they enjoyed a greater share of possession they did not attack their opponents with any real conviction.
The Canadians just made too many mistakes and paid the price. The Belgian team really loves firing in balls in the circle and got their first two goals through the same strategy.
However, Canada were suddenly looking like a different team altogether from the 2nd half onwards as they became alive. It was Belgium who were made to be on the back foot at the start of the 4th quarter as Canada had multiple opportunities.
Simon Gougnard got a green card in the match for talking back to the assistant referee.
There was constant pressure by the Canadians early on in the 4th and final quarter -- completely against the run of play. Belgium's Victor Wegnez got a yellow card in the 48th minute which meant that Belgium would have to be down to 10 men for 5 minutes.
This provided the Canadians with the license to go for the kill and they made the most of it. Belgium had to pay the price for being one man down as Canada scored off the next Penalty corner. There was brilliant build play and Scott Tupper fired in a shot. Mark Pearson got the deflection in after a goalline scramble.
Sarmento of Canada also had a great chance to draw the scores level in the 58th minute but missed it. He just could not latch on to the ball as well as he would have liked. What a moment it that could have been!
As expected, it was all Belgium in the first half. However, Canada really tested them from the 2nd half onwards. They were not going to let their opponents have it that easy. Mark Pearson's goal gave them a glimmer of hope. Now comparing the stats -- Belgium had 16 shots compared to Canada's 6. The Red Lions were also miles ahead in the number of circle penetrations as they had 33 to their name compared to just 9 by Canada.
However, Belgium were stronger overall as they had 66 % of their possession in the opposition half which reflects the attacking mindset of the team. Shane McLeod will be happy with how his team started the match but certainly not with the way it ended.
The Canadian coach Paul Bundy will certainly take heart from the fact that his side displayed a great fighting spirit in the final quarter against stronger opponents. If they can sustain it throughout the match then they would certainly start getting favourable results in their upcoming matches.
Another downside for Belgium was that when Canada were holding on to the ball then the pressing could have been better by Belgium. The sitting back strategy worked with Canada but may not necessarily do so in the upcoming matches as they face stronger opponents.
The Red Lions will face a stern test in their next match on 2nd December as they go up against a 5th placed India, who will also have the home advantage. India will also have to look out and be wary of the Belgians as they are fiery going forward just like their outfits.
Canada, on the other hand, will be seen locking horns with South Africa earlier on the same day -- December 2.
