S2H Team
Belgium made it a profitable visit to Valencia with a 2-0 win over Spain in the FIH Pro League double header that ended on Saturday.
Six points from two outright wins took the Red Lions, World and European champions, to 32 points from 13 matches at the top of the nine-nation table – 14 ahead of their nearest rivals The Netherlands who have played four matches fewer.
Spain remain at seventh spot with seven points from 10 matches after drawing a blank from the dual encounters, the first of which ended in a 2-3 defeat on Friday.
It was a fitting result for Belgium who must surely dedicate victory to captain John-John Dohmen who collected his 400th cap during the match – only the sixth player in history to do so.
The hosts will reflect ruefully on the match for wasted opportunities, not least a penalty stroke which Xavi Lleonart failed to score from, thanks to goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch’s fine block with the glove, stretching to his left.
The penalty stroke came from sustained pressure at the set-piece that saw three post-hooter penalty corner awards at the end of the third quarter.
Spain had nine penalty corners in all but were undermined by mediocre trapping at the top of the circle. One, at the end of the first quarter, did enter the goal but a high “first-hit” meant that the hosts were denied by a technicality again after suffering a similar fate with the last play of the first match.
Belgium did not produce the effervescence of the first match but did enough to control proceedings for the most part and shot ahead when Simon Gougnard’s back-hander found the boards through the pads of Quico Cortes in the 10th minute.
Spain were pretty much in the game but apart from their prodigality, it was the tenacious defence by Van Aubel who kept out Pau Quemada’s drag-flick on the line and Vanasch’s superlative performance that kept the Belgian goal intact.
Alexander Hendrickx then consolidated his position on top of the scorers’ list when his quality drag flick beat Cortes in the 18th minute to bring up his 11th goal in the competition so far.
Ninth-ranked Spain ran their No.1 ranked opponents close in terms of circle entries (16-17), even had more shots (10-5) and percentage possession (58-42) but the final pass and execution went missing.
“It was a great game; it is always tight against Spain”, said Belgium’s Vanasch, who was named Player of the Match. “I am very happy that we dealt with the pressure and I’m really pleased that John John Dohmen celebrated his 400th cap for Beglium today. We could not be more proud.”
Talking about his incredible caps landmark, John-John Dohmen said: “I am just really proud to have played so many games for my country, especially with these boys. I love this group. I just enjoy the journey with the team, it is just amazing. Ten years ago we were nowhere in the world ranking, but now we are the best team in the world. We can be really proud of that. I am not the only one, there are a lot of old guys in this team who did the same journey as me, so we can be really proud of this.”
The match, as did Friday’s encounter, was played behind closed doors and without the TV umpire whose visit was not possible because of travel restrictions in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The league takes a break until March 6 when Netherlands take on Germany in a double header at home.
Spain play India in a double header on May 6 in Valencia while Belgium with three matches remaining take on Argentina in a double header commencing on May 22 before the concluding match of the league on May 30 against the Netherlands which in all probability will confirm the title winners.
FIH Hockey Pro League
Saturday 6 February 2021 – Valencia (ESP)
Men’s result: Spain 0, Belgium 2 (Match 2 of 2)
Player of the Match: Vincent Vanasch (GK – BEL)
Umpires: Francisco Vasquez (ESP) and Jakub Mejzlik (CZE)