The good thing about the Belgians is they have not seen much of Malaysian Juniors of late. But they are feeling very much at home here in Lucknow.
The Belgians arrived here four days ago for the Uttar Pradesh Hockey Junior World Cup Men, Lucknow 2016. They are drawn in Group B of the event with Malaysia, Egypt and Netherlands.
Wallace Tan’s juniors will open their campaign here against Netherlands on Friday (Dec 9), face the Egyptians on Dec 11 and play the Belgium in their last group match on Dec 12 at the Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium. The top two teams qualify for the Dec 14 quarterfinals.
“The last I have seen Malaysian Juniors was when they were 16 years old playing in Europe,” said Belgium head coach Jeroen Baart when met in the gardens of the team hotel in Lucknow.
“We are on our way to team training. It’s cold here but we are very much at home,” he said with a wryly smile. “Actually we are in the dark about Malaysia and Egypt. Malaysia’s last minute arrival in the World Cup has also been a concern to us too.
“To be truthful, we were bracing to face Pakistan in our group and with Malaysia replacing the Pakistanis we have some last minute home work to do,” added Baart as he prepares the team for the friendly match against the South Africans later in the day.
With temperatures ranging from 15-20 degrees Celsius when night descends, it very closer to home for the Belgians though the Malaysians are getting use to it in the last 24 hours upon arrival.
Baart, however, acknowledged that though the Malaysians were late entry to the Junior World Cup, they have received ‘damning’ news of their Group B opponents from fellow Europeans nations.
“They are a very good team and we have to be wary. The fact that every team here is of world level we have to respect them. I have been informed the Malaysians are a hard team to beat. So that means we have to take every team, including Egypt, very seriously,” said Baart.
Belgium secured their place in Lucknow with a fourth-place finish at the European Junior Nations Championships 2014, which was played on home soil in Waterloo. They were denied the bronze medal by England, who claimed the win courtesy of a shoot-out. In October of this year, the young Red Lions team finished third behind India and Germany at a Four Nations Invitational event in Valencia, Spain, while forward Gregory Stockbroekx finished as joint top scorer.
Photo credit: Hockey Belgium Twitter (@hockeybe)
