BHUBANESWAR: This is what Belgium do. They always find a way. They either convert losses into draws or turn draws into wins. They have now stretched their unbeaten record across the Olympics and World Cups to 17 (they last lost in the final of the Olympics in 2016). Against Germany in their second game of the World Cup, they had taken the lead and were sitting pretty. That's when they ceded a bit of their control — the thing they desire most on the turf — in the second quarter.
They never reclaimed it as Germany scored two goals, the second of those coming from the stick of Tom Grambusch seven minutes into the fourth quarter. The Germans, coming into the event on the back of some poor results on the big stage, were pencilled in as a team to watch by Belgium consultant, Shane McLeod. And they showed why. They opted for a fair few aerial balls that was designed to eliminate the Belgian midfield in the process.
When the team in white did get the ball, they didn't get any change out of the German defence. In the entire match, they won only two penalty corners, something they repelled with a modicum of comfort. But two minutes after Grambusch's goal, Victor Wegnez replied to restore parity. Germany's Niklas Wellen, who had become a father just before the match, had scored the opening goal.
Japan involved in bizarre snafu, apologise
In the dying embers of Japan's match against South Korea, they had 12 players on the field. It wasn't spotted by the on-field officials and the FIH have launched an investigation. "In the last moments of today’s (Tuesday's) FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup match between Japan and Korea, the Japanese team had 12 players on the field of play, instead of a maximum of 11 as stipulated in the FIH Rules of Hockey," an FIH release said.
After the match, the FIH Officials – who did not spot this situation at the moment – have spoken to the Japanese team who have explained that they hadn’t realised this at all and expressed their most sincere apologies. The FIH Officials have also explained the matter to the Korean team. The final result of the match (KOK-JPN 2-1) remains of course unaffected."
Results:
Japan 2-1 South Korea, Belgium 2-2 Germany. Wednesday is a rest day