The rise of Belgium as hockey powerhouse: 'It ain’t a sprint, it’s a marathon on a mountain'
The HinduOn August 5, 2021, at about 1 p.m. Central European Summer Time, a motley crew of players from Belgium found itself on the verge of history. If Belgium beat Australia in the penalty shootout at the Oi Hockey Stadium in Tokyo, the Red Lions, as they’re known, would be crowned Olympic champions. RELATED| Tokyo Olympics Men's Hockey: Belgium wins gold after shootout victory over Australia “You also have a generation like mine which sacrifices everything to live for hockey, to be proud to be Belgian. I think that allowed us, in the end, to push the pedal and win the game.” Asked about India’s penalty corner defence, which was repeatedly put to test by Belgium in the semifinal, Hendrickx says, “India’s PC defence was one of the better ones at the Olympics. Hockey games are often decided by penalty corners, so of course, every game was key for us to get as many corners as we could, to increase the chances of scoring.” Hendrickx thinks Belgium’s upswing is the result of “more training, better infrastructure and more funding.
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