Ukraine failed to thwart the Belgian men’s hockey team at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Valencia. On the contrary: Ukraine was attacked from pillar to post and suffered 12 Belgian hits. As group winners, the Red Lions will play the semi-final against South Korea on Friday at 3.30pm. If they win that match, the reigning champions will qualify for Paris. The winner of any consolation final will also be able to participate in the Games.
Goals:
11′ William Ghislain 1-0
19′ Alexander Hendrickx 2-0 (penalty corner)
21′ Thibeau Stockbroekx 3-0
23′ Florent Van Aubel 4-0
27′ Tom Boon 5-0
32′ William Ghislain 6-0
35′ Tom Boon 7-0
42′ Tom Boon 8-0
47′ Alexander Hendrickx 9-0 (penalty)
49′ Tanguy Cosyns 10-0
51′ Thibeau Stockbroekx 11-0
55′ Nelson Onana 12-0
Did you have to scroll past the objectives overview? Just like the Red Panthers, the Red Lions pulled out the abacus against Ukraine.
However, the Belgians had a more difficult start in the first quarter. Ukraine even had a glimpse of possession from time to time, but after 10 minutes the Lions opened the throttle. The result was the first goal by William Ghislain, who was free to slide in.
In the second quarter the Belgians really got up to speed. Ukrainian goalkeeper Roman Bloedov saw stars after a corner kick from Hendrickx and also goals from Stockbroekx and Van Aubel: 4-0 at half-time.
At the halfway point the Red Lions knew that the group victory had been clinched and that they will compete for an Olympic ticket against South Korea on Friday.
The second half served to give even more confidence ahead of that decisive match. And secretly the Red Lions will also want to emulate the Red Panthers.
Led by sharpshooter Tom Boon, who scored 3 goals, the Lions nearly made it 13-0 against the Panthers, but fell short by a goal. A punishment that won’t give the South Koreans too much hope.
2024-01-17 17:39:15
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