Belgien - England 3:2 (1:1)

Wednesday, 10.08.2007 - 13:00 in Mönchengladbach

Belgium is the first semi finalist

It was quite clear where all the teams in group A stood before the next round of games - they all had 3 points, and only the winners would progress. Because of this, both teams started cautiously, carefully feeling their way and without entering either circle for the first fifteen minutes. England then dealt better with the closely positioned Belgian defence and were more often able to bring the play into their circle.

Goalkeeper Vincet Vanasch (BEL) in action © hockeyimage.net
 

The 1:0 for Belgium in the 22nd minute was therefore rather surprising - Renaud Pangrazio went to the right and from the edge of the circle passed to Alexandre de Paeuw, who immediately hit a flat shot into the far corner. England's keeper George Pinner had no chance. The Belgian attack then came out of hibernation and it became more likely that they would achieve a score of 2:0 than that England would score the equaliser. But Peter Dobson took heart and busied himself in the Belgian circle , and the 1:1 score remained unchanged until half time. The score was definitely justified, because both teams played equally well, with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Floris Vanderlinden (BEL) and Alastair Brogdon (ENG) watching the ball pass by ...
  © hockeyfocus.de

Just moments after the restart, Simon Gougnard found himself alone in the circle and made the best of the situation with a tomahawk shot from the edge of the circle; the score was 2:1. England defended themselves well with efficient passing in midfield, but fell apart on the edge of the circle. A turning point in the game came in the 48th minute, when Peter Dobson was shown the yellow card. With just 9 opponents on the field, the Belgian U21 defence was unstoppable and always able to counter. Maurice Dubois kept his head when he found Renaud Pangrazio completely unmarked, who needed only to deflect the ball. The strong English keeper, George Pinner, had no chance. England, once again with 11 men, kept attacking, but Belgium were too clever to get themselves into real danger. Excitement then in the 61st minute, when Whiteman Tim Whiteman smashed the ball high in the direction of the goal and hit Alexandre de Peauw right in the face, but fortunately did not injure him.

Jérémy Celis (BEL)
  © hockeyfocus.de

A corner for England, which Chris Pryce converted to 3:2. However, the English team now reacted too frantically, losing the ball unnecessarily, and Belgium were able to play for time. All in all, Belgium was the more determined and clever team and England were too careless and frenzied. If England had not lost their first game against Malaysia, they could have avoided the pressure of having to win this decisive game. Everybody is surprised to see Belgium in the semi-finals, but the young team have been creating quite a stir for some time. The Belgian coach Marcelo Orlando was of course very satisfied with his team, but was also generous with his comments about their evenly-matched opponents. His English counterpart Bob Crutchley was disappointed with his boys' inconsistency and missed chances, but paid tribute to the Belgians for their strong performance, which he attributed to their well-structured play.

Goalie George Pinner (ENG) had no chance © hockeyfocus.de

Torschützen/Scorers:
20.'   1:0   DE PAEUW, Alexandre
35.'   1:1   DOBSON, Peter
37.'   2:1   GOUGNARD, Simon
51.'   3:1   DE PAEUW, Alexandre
62.'   3:2   PRYCE, Chris (PC)

Strafecken/Penalty Corners:
Belgien/Belgium _ (kein/no Tor/goal)
England/England _ (1 Tor/goal)

Schiedsrichter/Umpires:
VARDHAN GANDHAM, H. (IND)
BACHMANN, B. (GER)

« Home

» Matchreport (pdf)

» Liveticker

» No video

» Pictures of the match