Belgian women’s hockey players will be present at the Paris Olympic Games for the first time since London 2012. A logical qualification, but also “mentally liberating”, according to commentator Eddy Demarez. “They will bring this drive with them to the Games.”
The Red Panthers stumbled the last two times just before the Games, but they pulled it off this time, simply because they are so much better than previous times.
South Korea and China, the countries against which things have gone badly on previous occasions, still rank lower than Britain.
The English are Olympic champions in 2016 and were also good in Tokyo, but are now in decline. In principle, the Panthers are a little better.
But it is a match with so much at stake that there were many inaccuracies on the part of both teams due to nervousness. We didn’t see the best performance from the Panthers.
Gerniers was smart enough to celebrate immediately after the goal with her arm. This raised doubts among the English and it was too late for the video referee.
Eddy Demarez
Gerniers’ 2-1 was obviously fundamental. She was smart enough to celebrate right away, even though she knew perfectly well that the ball had gone into the goal through her arm and therefore her goal shouldn’t have counted.
Because of that cheering, there was doubt among the English, who waited too long to request a review from the video referee. However, there is no specific time in the legislation, although it must be requested within a reasonable time.
It’s actually bizarre, because the English were right. Instead at 1-1 they score because Vanden Borre thought it was a free throw for Belgium. The English are smart enough to take advantage of this.
It was details like this that decided the victory and qualification.
(more information under the video report)
The future looks bright
For the Red Panthers this is undoubtedly a mental liberation. You should know that half of this team was there for the previous failures.
When the English finally made it 3-2, players like Gerniers, Nelen and Vandermeiren must have thought for a moment: “It’s not real, is it? It won’t happen again, will it?”
But now they are much better physically, technically and tactically and continued to play, which they failed to do in the final round against China and South Korea.
In Paris they can aim for the medal. This is allowed if you are in the top 4 in the world.
Eddy Demarez
They bring this mental drive with them to the Games themselves. Perhaps they will remain 4th in the world rankings, which will put them in the same group as the (nearly unbeatable) Netherlands in Paris and thus avoid the quarter-finals.
This means that the road to the semi-finals is open and they should be able to compete for medals.
The hardest part was actually getting to Paris, now they can aim for the medal. This is allowed even if you are in the top 4 in the world.
And the future looks even better, because good players are still arriving. 19-year-old Emily White was not present due to injury and some other talents who have performed well in the youth national teams are eager to play.
In the long term, Belgium will have to rival numbers 2 and 3, Australia and Argentina, and then really threaten the Netherlands as number 2 in the ranking of the most important countries in the world.
Then it will be just like for men: what was initially a utopia is no longer a dream: becoming an Olympic champion.
Eddy Demarez
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2024-01-19 06:56:00
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