Stats Talk: Can India overcome a poor recent record and beat Belgium on Saturday?

Will India survive the Belgium test?

The Indian team is on a roll but they will be up against another tough opponent in Belgium when both teams lock horns in the semifinal of the Hockey World League Final Round in Raipur on Saturday evening. The home side does not have great memories of their last meeting five months back against the Red Lions at the Hockey World League Semifinal Round at Antwerp, where they were inflicted a 0-4 defeat.

It was a match where India never quite got themselves into the match after Belgium raced away with two early goals and then going on to score two more in the second half, riding on a superb hat-trick by Florent Van Aubel to turn the match into a one-sided affair.

India have beaten Belgium twice and lost thrice in their last five meetings. The Blueshirts had eased past Belgium 4-2 in the 2014 Champions Trophy in Bhubaneshwar with the likes of Rupinder Pal Singh, SK Uthappa, Akashdeep Singh and Dharamvir Singh scoring after they had earlier lost to the same opponents 2-3 in the 2014 World Cup – down in by a final minute goal by John-John Dohmen.

India had lost to Belgium 1-2 in the 2014 Hockey World League Final Round in New Delhi – they won against the Red Lions by a solitary goal in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Champions Trophy in Melbourne.

Belgium has been in the top-five for a long while, until recently they slipped to seventh. Interestingly, this is the first time that India is facing Belgium holding a higher ranking over their opponents. Two of the last five meetings have been in India with the hosts winning once and losing once. India have scored 8 goals in their five meetings and conceded 11.

 

Recent Head-to-Head Record

No.	Tournament	Venue	Result
1.	2015 Hockey World League Semifinals	Antwerp	Lost 0-4
2.	2014 Champions Trophy	Bhubhaneshwar	Won 4-2
3.	2014 World Cup	Hague	Lost 2-3
4.	2015 Hockey World League Final	New Delhi	Lost 1-2
5.	2012 Champions Trophy	Melbourne	Won 1-0