| # | Info | Date | Teams | Score | Status | Match Sheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 7th, 2012 | ||||||
| 28 | Pool B | 4:00pm |
|
0 - 3 (0 - 1) | Final | |
Belgium have set their sights firmly on third spot in Pool B as they had the clinical edge India lacked to run up a misleading 3-0 scoreline as Vincent Vanasch was by far the busier goalkeeper on the day. Superb strikes from Jerome Dekeyser, Gauthier Boccard and Tom Boon – on his 100th international appearance – mean the Belgians now have a shot at fifth place in the competition having already massively improved on their pre-tournament ranking of eleventh. They will keep third spot barring a five goal New Zealand win over Germany in the day's final game.
Dekeyser started the scoring in brilliant fashion in the 15th minute, racing onto Felix Denayer’s through ball, finishing first time with a rocket over Bharat Kumar Chetri’s shoulder.
India’s vitality on the counter attack should have yielded a couple of goals in response. Standing in their way, though, was the superb Vincent Vanasch while Shivendra Singh clipped the outside of the post.
While Indian chances went astray, Belgium snapped up their half-chances and Boccard profited from a superb piece of umpiring from Nigel Iggo. He held his whistle after Boon seemed to have earned a penalty corner, and the 20-year-old Boccard fired home through a narrow opening. And Boon closed out the win after more Vanasch heroics with two minutes to go with an excellent, low reverse-stick shot.
India end the pool phase with five losses from five and will now play South Africa for eleventh place on Saturday at 8.30am.
(Stephen Findlater)
Tom BOON (BEL)
On the performance of the team: "We had one thing in mind which was to win this game because we want to play the 5th/6th place match and that is what we did. I don't think it was our best hockey, but we coped pretty well with India and we have our goalie to thank who made some wonderful saves in this game."
On how it felt to play his 100th match for Belgium: "I thought it was brilliant. I want to play a lot more because I'm enjoying playing for Belgium very much - it is amazing."
Vincent VANASCH (BEL)
On the performance of the team against India: "It was perfect. I would give it 10 out of 10. Three goals scored and none conceded is the ultimate dream. We tried to keep it simple in the beginning, but it got a bit chaotic. We did try to analyse the team beforehand so we had to stay focused throughout and I think overall it went really well."
On his performance against India as he made some important saves: "I made some great saves, but that is what I am here for and making saves like that feels amazing so I'm really happy about it."
On how he will find motivation to play in a 5th/6th classification match: "The fact we are here already is magnificent and we are not here to lose this last match. We did just lose out on the semifinal but we are going to do everything we can to get the highest score we can now and that is fifth place."
Kumar Bharat CHETRI (IND)
On how he motivated the team for this final match when they were bottom of Pool B: "What has happened has happened. Today is a new day. We start fresh each time. We spoke together as a team yesterday and said forget about what's gone, we go out to play well. And we did play well, we just couldn't score. The Belgian goalkeeper (Vincent VANASCH) was very good. We are pleased with how we tried."
On the Olympic experience: "The whole place is very nice, and we have enjoyed being here, being part of London 2012. The Olympic Village is very nice. We have had the chance to meet the senior players. The crowd in the stadium has been very supportive to us at every match. It was nice playing here for us."
On what the Indian team need to work on for the future: "We need to learn to score goals, to be better at defence. Most of all we need to work on our minds, we need to have stronger minds. We are fit and we do play well, but we need to have more mind involved. We are disappointed, but we have enjoyed being in the Olympics here in this stadium on the blue turf."
| Live Blogging | |
|---|---|
| August 07th, 2012 at 9:45 am | 15 minutes until tip-off to the battle between Belgium and India; a win for Belgium earns third in the group; India will end 6th |
| August 07th, 2012 at 9:51 am | Umpires for this tie will be HL Kim (KOR) and N Iggo (NZL), spots of rain about the Riverbank as push-back nears |
| August 07th, 2012 at 9:54 am | Today marks the 100th cap for Belgium's Tom Boon and Florent van Aubel's 50th cap! |
| August 07th, 2012 at 10:10 am | Ten minutes in, Belgium probing the edge of the India circle but clear openings at a premium thus far, IND 0 BEL 0, 11mins |
| August 07th, 2012 at 10:15 am | Not many better strikes than that, Denayer plays Dekeyser in and he picks out the top corner with a rocket, IND 0 BEL 1, 15mins |
| August 07th, 2012 at 10:17 am | Charlier this time goes very close, taking in an overhead; his rising shot skims just wide from the left, IND 0 BEL 1, 18mins |
| August 07th, 2012 at 10:22 am | Great saves from Vanasch while Shivendra Singh also hits the post from a flurry of Indian attacks; IND 0 BEL 1, 22mins |
| August 07th, 2012 at 10:23 am | Brilliant Indian counter-attack but Vanasch again saves brilliantly, SV Sunil with the chance this time, IND 0 BEL 1, 24mins |
| August 07th, 2012 at 10:28 am | Sardar Singh lifts a great opening over the bar from another counter-attack move, Belgium hanging on, IND 0 BEL 1, 29mins |
| August 07th, 2012 at 10:36 am | Half-time: India 0 Belgium 1; great half of action, India unlucky not to profit on the counter, Belgium lead through wonder goal |
| August 07th, 2012 at 10:52 am | Vanasch saves brilliantly once again, diving with his stick to deny Sandeep Singh, IND 0 BEL 1, 40mins |
| August 07th, 2012 at 11:00 am | Great piece of umpiring from Iggo, advantage played off a foot and Boccard smacks home on the reverse, IND 0 BEL 2, 47mins |
| August 07th, 2012 at 11:08 am | Belgium have a third goal ruled out for dangerous play; Gougnard's rising shot chalked off, IND 0 BEL 2, 55mins |
| August 07th, 2012 at 11:11 am | Chetri does well to eventually save from Briels amid a scramble, IND 0 BEL 2, 58mins |
| August 07th, 2012 at 11:16 am | Vanasch having an inspired game keeping out three more attacks; Belgium on the back foot but 2-0 up, 63mins |
| August 07th, 2012 at 11:21 am | Tom Boon scores on his 100th cap, a brilliant low reverse makes it 3-0, 68mins |
| August 07th, 2012 at 11:39 am | Belgium finished 3-0 winners; the result means they take third in the group barring a five-goal win for New Zealand vs Germany |