Belgium take on England in Hockey Champions Trophy

Bhubaneswar, Dec 8:

Belgium will meet England in their final Pool A contest of the Hero Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy at the Kalinga Stadium here Tuesday.

While World No.4 Belgium are all pepped up with the 2-1 win over Pakistan in the opener and a 4-4 draw against the world champions Australia Sunday, World No.5 England are in supreme form with a huge 8-2 triumph over Pakistan and 3-1 victory against the defending champions.

Both the teams have been playing at their best, showcasing world-class hockey and have not lost a single game in the ongoing title fight which makes their impending clash even more fascinating to look out for.

Prior to this, in the last couple of years, the two teams have had a head-on in the pool phase of Rabobank World Cup 2014 where England drubbed Belgium 3-2 in a close match. They also met earlier in the quarter-finals of the World League Final played at New Delhi, where England defeated Belgium 1-0.

Happy with his team’s performance, England Coach Bobby Crutchley said: “We have had a very good start and we are much energised. I am happy with the performance of the boys. Every match is a learning experience for us and we are excited for the upcoming matches. It’s an open tournament; the boys are confident and in good shape after winning two consecutive matches. We are looking forward to performing our best against Belgium tomorrow.”

With respect to the ongoing championship, Belgium played England in the Champions Trophy 2012 for the 5th-8th place playoff and Belgium blanked England 4-0 to finish off fifth in the final standings.

“England have been playing really well and we are expecting a high intensity match with them tomorrow. We aim at playing better than the last game and eventually post a win against England,” Belgium coach Jeroen Delmee said. (IANS)