INDIA: Belgium and Germany drew 2-2 in their Pool B matchup of the FIH Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday with two goals each.
Belgium started the game on a positive note and won a penalty corner in a few minutes. Hendrickx flicked a screamer toward the post off a corner, but Mathias Muller did well to stop the ball from going past him.
Cedric Charlier handed Belgium the lead after flicking the ball at an angle into the German goalpost’s bottom right corner.
Germany wasted a goal-scoring opportunity a few minutes into the second quarter. However, Niklas Wallen made amends with a diagonal shot to bring Germany level at 1-1 with Belgium.
The two European teams exchanged possession in the second quarter as each tried to gain the upper hand. Belgium was particularly in attack mode, but Germany’s defence did well to foil their attempts.
Christopher Ruhr almost scored a goal in the third quarter, but the shot went wide off the post. Belgium won a penalty corner, but Stadler pushed Hendrickx’s shot away from the goalpost.
Tom Boon received the first green card of the match and remained off the field for two minutes. The Belgian players launched a counter-attack, with Kina taking the ball away from the Belgian circle.
Teo Hinrichs was hit in the right eye while hitting the ball as Hendrickx vied for the ball mid-air. The incident marked the end of the third quarter.
Christopher Ruhr made several futile attempts to score a goal, but the Belgian defence and goalkeeper saved his shots each time. Germany had another opportunity when Ludwig passed the ball to Wellen near the circle.
Wellen entered the circle and turned around to net the ball, but missed the goalpost. Eventually, Tom Grambusch handed Germany the lead after flicking the ball past the Belgian goalkeeper, Vanasch.
With just five minutes left on the clock, Victor Wegnez equalised for Belgium after Germany’s green card for Prinz left the side with just ten players.
The close encounter between the teams ended soon after the referee showed the yellow card to Ruhr, who pushed a Belgian player.
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