Cedric Charlier’s sparkling goal handed Belgium their first win of the Olympic Games, putting a major dampener on Korea’s hopes of reaching the final four. It came in the final quarter after Hyun Woo Nam’s penalty corner had cancelled out Tom Boon’s opener 90 seconds into the second half.

Plenty of late drama ensued as three yellow cards were dished out in the final minute and Vincent Vanasch was forced to save a series of shots in a final flurry of action. Holding on for the win, it pushes Belgium up to fourth in the standings with New Zealand and India to play. Jerome Dekeyser produced the highlight of the first half with a rasping strike that crashed against the inside of the post, agonisingly rebounding across the face of goal in the sixth minute.

It was a half that promised much but goalmouth chances were at a premium. The second half was those come in abundance, the first ballooning Tom Boon’s way from a crash ball and he swung out a volley that delicately wrong-footed Myung Ho Lee from a tight angle. Nam levelled with a low corner drive but his side will rue their inability to capitalise further from their volume of corners in the latter stages. Number one Jerome Truyens blocked one spectacularly while a couple went off target to keep Belgium on terms.

Alexandre de Saedeleer did similarly well to pressurise Kang Moon Kweon who somehow manages to screw a close range shot wide in the 56^th minute. It proved a huge let-off as, soon after, Charlier scored the goal which had the Belgian fans singing down the Olympic walkway. He had already beaten a couple of defenders before his shimmy wrong-footed another couple, finding the space to roof a sweep-shot on the dive over Myung Ho Lee’s shoulder.

They had to live on their wits for the closing ten minutes as Jeffrey Thys, Xavier Reckinger and Nam Yong Lee all saw yellow while Oh Dae Keun – on his 100^th cap – and Cha Jong Bok drew saves from Vanasch for a big win for the lowlanders.

SHIN Seok Kyo (KOR) - coach, on why they lost: "I'm really disappointed with the game, we could have played better, and we should have played better. We missed quite a few penalty corners towards the end. This was an important game for us and we're sad we lost."

On recovering for the final two pool matches: "All the players are mentally and physically down, so if we can recover and prepare, get mentally and physically strong for the next match, we think we can beat India. We have to beat India and Netherlands. We will do our best to make it through. Our aim is to finish in the top eight."

 

Cedric CHARLIER, on his first goal of the tournament: "It wasn't a strategy it was the last place to go so I ran for it. It is most important to get three points. Our objective is to get six points so we are still in the race."

On expectations for their match against New Zealand: "It will be a tough game as usual, they are really good. We have yet to analyse their game, but we have plans to push to win and we trust in the team."

 

LEE Seung Il (KOR), on the loss to Belgium: "I think we needed to win to get through to the next round. We are very disappointed, but there are still games left for us to target."

On what they need to do to improve: "Very similar things to the last game (against Germany). The skills and techniques seem to be very good, but it seems to be down to the opportunities we make and how we finish them. We need to take our chances in front of goal. We don't have enough time for training anymore, it really is up to the attacking players to come together, and to bring our minds together."