With the scores level at full-time, Belgium won the penalty shoot-out to triumph against a gallant Australia.
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Belgium won an intense shootout to claim gold in the men’s Olympic hockey final of the ongoing Tokyo 2020. The Belgians were pegged back after taking the lead in the 32nd minute through Florent van Aubel, as Australia levelled in the fourth quarter with a goal. Thomas Whetton levelled the score to see the game end with a 1-1 scoreline.
Belgium’s men’s team had never won an Olympic gold medal. A silver medal at Rio 2016 and a bronze at Antwerp 1920 were their best finishes before today. However, the 2018 world champions scored three to Australia’s two in the all-important shoot out to pick up the top honours in Japan.
The shootout witnessed its fair share of drama. The Belgian goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch stopped three Australian shots, with the final penalty by the Aussies re-taken following consultation with the video referee. However, Belgium prevailed in the end, scripting history with their maiden triumph.
The Belgium men’s team defeated India 5-2 in the semi-finals, to enter the final on a dominant role. The latter have however not returned empty-handed, following a 5-4 triumph against Germany to win the Bronze Medal on Thursday.
The date 05 August 2021 will be etched in Indian hockey fans’ memories forever as the Indian Men’s Hockey Team scripted a fantastic comeback against Germany to win the Bronze Medal. The Indian team was trailing 1-3 in the 25th minute. However, Hardik Singh (27′), Harmanpreet Singh (29′), Rupinder Pal Singh (31′) and Simranjeet Singh (34′) found the back of the net in quick succession to help their team take a lead at 5-3 in the 34th minute. The Germans found a breakthrough in the 48th minute. However, they couldn’t equalize the score as the Indian Team went on to script history at the Oi Hockey Stadium.
“It was a proud moment for us when we won the Bronze Medal. It was an emotional moment as well because India has won an Olympic Medal in hockey after a long time. It’s a big thing to win an Olympic Medal and we have made a lot of sacrifices. We were in Bengaluru for one and a half years and there was lockdown. Focussed on staying strong mentally. We stayed as a family together in Bengaluru and I think that helped us a lot in the Olympics. The entire team has put in a very good effort and that’s why we have won a Medal,” said Indian Men’s Hockey defender and Vice-Captain Harmanpreet Singh.
“Today, at half-time we spoke about owning the moment and making sure that we don’t have any regrets after the match. We also spoke about our processes and playing our own game. We didn’t want to think about whether we were losing or not and we spoke about believing in ourselves, believing in our hard work and looked to play simple hockey,” added the defender.
Indian Men’s Hockey Chief Coach Graham Reid further praised the team’s fightback in the match.
“It was a fantastic performance by the team today, apart from the first 7-8 minutes. The Germans were very pumped from the very first whistle today and we paid the price early. The team made a great fightback today. One of the pleasing performances of the day was that we were 3-1 down after having lost the Semi-Final and most teams would struggle with that situation a little mentally and I think the team’s comeback showed you where the group was today. Getting up to 5-3 from 1-3 was a wonderful performance today,” he stated.
