India 1-2 Belgium Highlights, FIH Pro League 2022-23: Fulton era begins with heartbreaking loss

Belgium’s Loick Luypaert has been named the Player of the Match. India loses its first match under new coach Craig Fulton. The Men in Blue will next be in action against Great Britain tomorrow.

Last few seconds. And that’s that. Belgium beats India with a late goal from Nelson Onana!

Last two minutes. Lots of Belgian players around the Indian circle. The Indian defense stays resolute. Belgium asks for a backstick from Jarmanpreet and uses a referral. And the men in white are right! PC for Belgium. Sreejesh blocks the drag flick but Gurinder, in the effort to clear it, swings hard and concedes another. This time, Onana finds the back of the net post the rebound! Belgium takes the lead with 90 seconds remaining!

Lalit loses the ball inside the opposition half and that allows Belgium to launch a quick counter-attack. One-on-one situation, Cosyns absolutely hammers it but Sreejesh stands tall and blocks it with his shoulder.

Shamsher puts the ball inside the Belgian circle from the right flank but no teammate of his gets to it.

Green card for Belgium’s Tobias Biekens.

India uses a referral. Sukhjeet had hit the ball onto Onana’s hand. No PC. India loses the referral.

No worries for the men in white though as soon enough, Nelson Onana wins a PC. Opportunity for Belgium. Good first save from Sreejesh but the danger is still there. Somehow, India manages to turn it into a counter-attack with Lalit and Sukhjeet on the left flank. Poncelet with some solid defending for Belgium keeps it 1-1.

Quick attack along the right flank from the Belgians. One-on-one situation but Harmanpreet, with some genius defending, avoids conceding a PC.

A wayward cross from Sanjay gives the possession back to Belgium.

Final quarter is underway.

Brilliant clearance off the line from Sanjay! However, moments later, Belgium wins a PC with 10 seconds left on the clock. No goal. End of third quarter.

Loick Luypaert tries to take on one Indian defender after another but eventually loses possession. Final stages of the third quarter.

Belgium happy to play the possession game.

Swift counter-attack from India after Belgium loses the ball carelessly. Akashdeep receives the pass from Hardik but does not manage to make the right contact with the ball while going for an attempt on goal.

Free hit for India. Harmanpreet passes it to Vivek inside the D who tries to deflect it towards top right corner but the ball goes wide.

Gurjant wins a PC for India. The Indian, with his back towards the goal, spins quickly and finds a Belgian foot with his pass. However, Harmanpreet’s drag flick is blocked!

De Kerpel with a shot from the right. Sreejesh blocks it easily but De Kerpel manages to find an Indian foot post the rebound and earn a PC for Belgium. Sreejesh saves!

The second-half begins. India takes the push-off and plays from right to left.

Last few seconds of the first half. Pressure on the Indian backline to stay strong and not concede. Half-time hooter!

Free hit to India inside the Belgian half. Akashdeep tries to find his way through to the D but gets blocked by the Belgian defense.

Penalty Corner to India after a tackle from De Sloover on Vivek Sagar Prasad. Chance to equalise. Referee was about to award India a penalty stroke after a defender had blocked Harmanpreet’s block on the line illegally but Mandeep managed to get to the ball quickly and put it in the back of the net.

Green card shown to Guillermo Hainaut. That’s a two-minute suspension. Belgium down to 10 men.

Sreejesh blocks the drag flick following the second PC but in the follow-up, Thibeau Stockbroekx provides a deflection to Loick Luypaert’s shot to beat the Indian custodian.

Quick counter-attack from India catches the Belgian defense totally out of position. Akashdeep gets inside the D but does not manage to win a PC. However, moments later, it is the men in white who win a PC. India blocks the first attempt illegally and concedes another PC.

The second quarter is underway and India has made a change. Sreejesh replaces Pathak.

Final minute of the first quarter. Careless from Abhishek on the right flank as he passes the ball behind and it is received by a Belgian player. With 20 seconds left on the clock, Belgium gets a penalty corner. India uses its video referral but the original decision stands. However, India keeps its referral since there was ‘no advice possible’ from the video official. Excellent defending from Amit Rohidas to block the drag flick. The first quarter ends goalless.

Belgium looking to control the tempo of the match. Lots of possession but nothing really incisive yet.

Hellin Guillaume with the ball inside the Indian D but his pass is deemed to be a dangerous one.

Aerial pass from Harmanpreet to Hardik on the left flank. A Belgian shirt intercepts it while being too close to the Indian and hence, a foul is called. No harm done eventually to the Belgian goal though.

Brilliant interception from Jarmanpreet on the edge of his D to stop a Belgian attack.

First shot on target for India from Hardik and Belgian custodian Van Doren does well to keep it out.

Belgium with the early possession, manages to take the ball inside the D but Indian defense does well not to concede a penalty corner.

Belgium with the push off. The Olympic champion will play from right to left while the Indians will play from left to right. India receives a penalty corner in less than 30 seconds but the referee overturns the call quickly.

The two teams make their way onto the pitch. Belgium in white jerseys and India in blue.

Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh is currently at the top of the goalscorer’s list with 11 goals.

India-18 | Belgium-17 | Draw-4

The last meeting between the two sides took place in June 2022 during the previous season of the FIH Pro League where Belgium beat India 3-2 in Antwerp.

Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, PR Sreejesh

Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh (C), Amit Rohidas, Jarmanpreet Singh, Manpreet Singh, Sumit, Sanjay, Mandeep Mor, Gurinder Singh

Midfielders: Hardik Singh (VC), Dilpreet Singh, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad

Forwards: Abhishek, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, S Karthi, Gurjant Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, Mandeep Singh, Simranjeet Singh

The match between India and Belgium will start at 7:10PM IST. The match will be telecast live in India on Star Sports First channel while the live stream of the same will be available on Fancode and watch.hockey

A rejuvenated Indian men’s hockey team will look to carry on its fine form from the home leg and maintain its supremacy at the top of the standings when it begins the Europe sojourn of the FIH Pro League against Olympic champion Belgium in London on Friday.

During the European leg of the tournament, India will also take on the Netherlands and Argentina in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

India overcame a disappointing World Cup campaign earlier this year to climb to the top of the 2022-23 Pro League table with an unbeaten record against world champion Germany and mighty Australia.

India is currently leading the table with 19 points from five outright victories from eight matches and two from shootouts.

The Pro League matches in Europe will also be the first real test for India’s new chief coach Craig Fulton, and it remains to seen how he fits into the high-pressure job after taking over from Australian Graham Reid, who guided the side to a historic bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

- PTI