Belgium hockey team comes into the Hockey World league (HWl) Final as the HWl semifinal champions in Rotterdam and they would be one of the favourites to win the eight-nation tournament which will get underway from January 10th at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, here.
Head Coach Marc lammers’ Belgium is considered to be one of the most improved sides which is on the rise and they are currently ranked fifth by the Federation of International Hockey.
Recently, the Red lions (as they’re known) have been a picture of brilliance. They have had a slew of successes in the forms of a creditable fifth-place finish in the 2012 london Olympics, runners-up in the 2013 Euro Hockey Championships where they lost to Germany, winners of Champions Challenge 2011 and HWl semifinal champions. En-route to winning the semifinal of HWl, they defeated Australia twice, including in the final which required a shoot-out to declare the winner, which means that the team is mentally strong as well.
And here, lammers feels, the team wants to keep improving and better its ranking. “This tournament is like mini World Cup where the top eight hockey teams are competing to win the inaugural title of Hero Hockey World league. This team ranks 5th in the world but we aim to come out a better team post this tournament,” 44-year old lammers said after his side’s practice session at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here on Sunday.
Belgium are grouped with top sides like Australia, Netherlands and Argentina but the coach is confident that he has a team which is ready for the tough test ahead.
“We have our best team for the league with just 4 new players in the squad and hence the boys have to live up to the expectation that they have built over the years,” lammers, who is known for guiding the Netherlands women’s team to a silver and a gold in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, respectively, said. During his nine-year stint from 2000-2008, the Dutch team also won a silver and a gold in the 2002 and 2006 World Cup, respectively.
Captain John Dohmen is of the view that in such a tournament one cannot afford to take any team lightly.
“It’s the top 8 hockey teams who will be competing against each other hence no one should be considered underdogs. Any team can win on any given day and hence we aim to play good hockey and win our matches and keep going ahead in the tournament,” he said. “We want to take each match as it comes and will play as per strategy on that given day,” he added.
The team is known for its all-round play but the standout player is striker Tom Boon while in Arthur van Doren, they have a young and talented defender. Belgium play their first match against Australia on January 10th.