Bhubaneswar: Spirited Belgium edged out host India by 3-1 goals to register back to win in the FIH Men’s Pro League at Birsa Munda Hockey stadium in Rourkela on Wednesday. Earlier on Tuesday, Belgium defeated Argentina by 5-3 goals. The visitors dominated the show by entering the Indian circle 29 times and scored double goals in the last quarter helped them to register a 3-1 victory.
Belgium cleared their intention with an attacking start in the first quarter. They cracked the host defence line by entering the circle eight times and generated two penalty corners, however they did not succeed to open the account. On the other hand, India got one PC but the scoreline remained 0-0 by the end of first quarter.
The second quarter was equally fought by both the teams. Belgium got the lead in the 22nd minute through a goal by Onana Nelson. Local boy Shilananda Lakra scored the equaliser for India in the 29th minute. The second PC was taken by Amit Rohidas and it was stopped by Belgium goalkeeper, but Shilananda collected the rebound and scored for the home team.
In the third quarter, both the teams pushed each other hard, but ended with no conversion into score. In the final quarter, Crolas Tomas and Arno Dessel scored a goal each for Belgium in the 53rd and 57th minutes respectively and took away the match from the host,
