A fruitful day in Valencia for both our national hockey teams. After the Red Panthers defeated South Korea (10-1), the Red Lions defeated Ireland 4-2. After two group matches with six out of six, the men’s team is already certain of the semi-finals.
LOOK. Alexander Hendrickx: “We can still increase our goal total against Ukraine”
Theoretically, first place in the group is at stake against Ukraine on Wednesday, but no one doubts that the Red Lions will do the job against their weak brother and number 28 in the world. Against number twelve Ireland tonight the difference was also visibly large. The Irish – conveniently described as a tough people – also want to live up to that reputation with a hockey stick in hand and offered quite a bit of resistance. But when it came down to it, Belgium turned out to be better in all aspects.
Captain Felix Denayer proved that he could still stand the target, even at the age of 33. He broke the spell with a subtle deviation on a entry from Thibeau Stockbroekx for the 1-0. The Irish goalkeeper then had a good reflex on an attempt by Tanguy Cosyns, but had to give in to a penalty corner from specialist Alexander Hendrickx in the second quarter. Ireland saw its courageous fighting spirit rewarded with the tying goal through Ben Johnson. But the Red Lions quickly turned Irish hopes of a return into an illusion. Youngster William Ghislain shot the ball high into the goal during a breakout for the 3-1 halftime score.
Captain Felix Denayer opened the scoring against Ireland. © BELGA
An early goal in the fourth quarter by Stockbroekx, who fired home a rebound, completely cut off Ireland’s breath. They barely came close to goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch while the Red Lions combined the opponent like crazy. However, there was no point in increasing the score. Ireland even scored a goal from a rare counterattack to make it 4-2, good for some raucous Irish cries of joy in the stands. But after the 7-0 walkover against Japan, the 4-2 win against Ireland is enough for the Red Lions to secure the semi-finals. Japan and Ireland are still battling it out for second place. “Played and won two matches, so that’s good,” Hendrickx said about the match against Ireland. “4-2 is a correct score. We had good control of the ball and dominance.” Hendrickx does not see the match against Ukraine as pro forma: “We have to go the extra mile for ourselves and we can still increase our goal total.”
William Ghislain scored with a hard high ball. © BELGA
Red Panthers in overdrive
The Red Panthers can also look back on a successful second day of play. After the hesitant 0-0 start against Ireland, it soon seemed like the game was over against South Korea: the smooth 10-1 victory speaks for itself.
Unlike against Ireland, the Red Panthers have now put their dominance and abundance of chances on the scoreboard against South Korea. Attacker Ambre Ballenghien paved the way in the first quarter with a clever deviation for the 0-1 and a ruthless finish in two times for the 0-2.
Alix Gerniers in action. © BELGA
Belgium pushed the accelerator hard in the second quarter and increased the score to 5-0 in no time: Louise Versavel, Stephanie Vanden Borre and Delphine Mariën were at the cannon. The spoils were already won at half-time, but the Red Panthers did not stop with the surplus of quality – the goal difference can also be important in the group hierarchy. Ballenghien scored her third goal in the third quarter after a penalty corner. In the fourth quarter, South Korea first managed to save honor through Minjeong Kim, but Belgium also scored four more times through Lien Hillewaert, Versavel, Mariën and again Ballenghien, her fourth of the day with which she became “player of the match”. crowned.
LOOK. Ballenghien: “Nice matches for an attacker”
“This is very gratifying,” says Ballenghien. “I’m a striker. Scoring goals is my favorite thing to do. Last year I was also not called up for the national team (Ballenghien broke his collarbone a few months before the European Championships in the summer and was not yet in top form, ed.). So I had to take some revenge here.”
Barbara Nelen saw the 10-1 win against South Korea as a great relief after the 0-0 against Ireland. “But that could also have been 5-0 for us. Then it was just not on the post. Today the opportunities opened up. That’s the big difference. We remained calm and had confidence in ourselves. Our 2-0 and 3-0 was reassuring. After that we were motivated to score even more and we succeeded. It’s a perfect scenario.”
Ambre Ballenghien crowned herself the star with four goals. © BELGA
With Ireland (FIH13) and South Korea (FIH 12), Belgium defeated its two strongest teams on paper with four points out of six on the report. Ukraine (FIH28), which lost 8-0 to Ireland today, also seems like a bite-sized chunk for these Red Panthers tomorrow. “But we think Ukraine is just as important as Ireland or South Korea,” says Nelen. “We are now going to recover and then fully focus on the next match.”
Belgium is aiming for first place in the group, which with the crossed semi-finals results in the number two of the other group as an opponent. If the Red Panthers win the semi-finals, the Olympic ticket will be in their pocket. If not, there will be another rematch in the consolation that they have to win.
Joy at Louise Versavel. © BELGA
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2024-01-15 21:22:30
#Red #Lions #assured #semifinals #Olympic #qualifying #tournament #win #Ireland #Panthers #Sports
