Hockey World Cup 2018: The Netherlands vs Pakistan - 3 Talking Points

#1 The Dutch strike form but van der Weeden struggles

Will Van der Weeden strike form in the knockouts

If the Dutch manage to overcome the Canadians in the crossover, which on current form seems to be the most likely outcome, the Kalinga stadium will witness an epic quarterfinal between India and the Netherlands on Thursday.

Should the Indians be worried?

Max Caldas' boys blew the Malaysians away in their opener by a massive 7-0 margin, not taking any time to settle into the competition but then appeared to lose their way a bit by going down to neighbours Germany by a 1-4 margin.

Yet, a closer look at the all-European clash brings to light the fact that the Dutch were on par with Stefan Kermas' side for three-quarters of the match and had managed to enter the German circle 29 times - when in fact the Germans themselves ended the match with 22 circle entries.

Three goals in the final quarter allowed the Germans to come away with full points and a seemingly-comprehensive win but it wasn't as if the orange army was overrun by their arch-rivals.

Seve van Ass, Bob de Voogt, Thierry Brinkman, Jeroen Hertzberger, Billy Bakker, Valentin Verga, and Robbert Kemperman have already made their mark in the World Cup while Blaak in goal is just as good as he always has been.

The manner in which the Dutch took command of the proceedings and pummelled the Pakistanis out of the match will no doubt cause the Indian think-tank to devise appropriate strategies, but the hosts may perhaps heave a sigh of relief that Mink van der Weeden has yet to come into his own.

The ace drag-flicker does seem to be struggling a bit but did sound the warning bells by firing in a trademark flick in the very last minute to score the fifth goal for his side against Pakistan, and the Indians may well assume that van der Weeden will fire when it matters given the fact that he loves the big stage.

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Head to Sportskeeda to check out the schedule for the upcoming matches.