England's dream of a Hockey World Cup final was dashed at the last hurdle by Belgium as the clinical Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallists triumphed 6-0 at the Kalinga Stadium. The rampant Belgians dominated from start to finish to earn their first-ever World Cup final berth as a brace from Alexander Hendrickx ensured they eased to victory in Bhubaneswar. Danny Kerry’s side, who produced a memorable comeback against reigning Olympic champions Argentina to reach the last four, will now have to settle for a third place play-off. And while Kerry was disappointed with the final scoreline, he hailed his players for the progress they have made during the tournament as they continue their development. He said: “I feel we have grown and developed as a group on and off the pitch, and we’ve demonstrated resilience during a long tournament here in the sub continent. “However, Belgium were the better side today and we will keep perspective. Our roles now are to regroup and prepare for the bronze medal match, it is a great opportunity to continue our progression.” Co-captain Phil Roper added: “We didn't really put our game out there. The Belgians played a really good game and we want to be more competitive than that. “For us, you can't go into a World Cup semi-final and not put your game out there and stick to the game plan. We have to move on quickly now, we've got 24 hours to recover for the bronze medal match on Sunday.” Belgium got off to a quick start when Tom Boon capitalised on early pressure to finish off a sweeping move by deflecting the ball from close-range past George Pinner in the England goal.
It almost got worse for England moments later as Boon came close to doubling his tally, only to see his deflected effort from a long-range drive come back off the bar.
A goalmouth scramble eventually resulted in Pinner recovering the ball, which enabled England to go into the first break just a single goal down at the end of the opening quarter.
That missed chance proved costly when Belgium scored a second with their next attack, with Simon Gougnard flashing the ball past Pinner after the keeper had initially saved from a penalty corner.
England responded with back-to-back free hits in the Belgian 23 but they struggled to build any attacking momentum and went into the half-time break 2-0 behind.
Adam Dixon had an effort at goal at the start of the third quarter following an England penalty corner but it was blocked on the line after beating Belgium shotstopper Vincent Vanasch.
The result was then put out of doubt as Belgium struck for their third of the game after Cedric Charlier collected an aerial pass before firing a half-volley past Pinner.
A fourth goal followed just before the end of the third quarter when Hendrickx added his name to the scoresheet for the first time with a clinical strike from a penalty corner.
England continued to fight in the final quarter as they looked to salvage something from the game but Hendrickx grabbed his second following another penalty corner.
Sébastien Dockier then capped off a fine performance from the Belgians after another Arthur Van Doren interception by racing into the England D and firing high past Pinner.
Sportsbeat 2018