Belgium thrashes Pakistan 5-0 in Hockey World Cup
Belgium's first scoring chance came from the very first move in the form of a penalty corner
BHUBANESWAR (Web Desk) – Pakistan s campaign at the Men s Hockey World Cup finally came to an end after Olympic silver medallists Belgium thrashed the four-time champions 5-0 in the third cross-over match at the Kalinga Stadium on Tuesday.
Staring the match as favourites, the Red Lions toyed with the Pakistani defence which somehow managed to hold on in the opening 10 minutes. With these losses, Pakistan s and Canada s campaign came to an end.
England and France booked their quarterfinal berths yesterday following victories in the first two cross-over games.
Hosts India, two-time defending champions Australia, Argentina and Germany had sealed the last-8 berths after topping their respective pools in the group stage.
The Red Lions, ranked third in the world, came into the match as outright favourites against the World No. 13 Pakistan and they played like champions, dominating the proceedings for major part of the 60 minutes.
Belgium s first scoring chance came from the very first move in the form of a penalty corner but the Pakistani defence did enough to thwart the danger.
Belgium kept up the pressure on the fragile Pakistani defence and secured back-to-back penalty corners in the 10th minute, the second of which was converted by Hendricks with a powerful low flick to the left corner of the goal.
Pakistan improved their game in the second quarter and made some impressive moves but they lacked ideas once inside the opposition circle.
The final pass was lacking from the Pakistanis as a result of which their build-ups hardly troubled the Belgian defence.
