Three Belgium goals in the second half, and India were knocked out of Rio Olympics, as the European nation defeated Roelant Oltman's men in the quarterfinals on Sunday. The final score read 3-1, with Belgium's Sebastien Dockier scoring a brace to help his team grab the last four spot.
The game got off to a lively start, with India and Belgium involved in some end to end stuff. India played some quality hockey in the first five minutes, but Belgium looked a solid defensive team.
Belgium gradually got into the rhythm as their forwards began to use their pace to exploit India's defence. Despite Belgium enjoying possession, India managed to take lead with Akashdeep Singh scoring a field goal in the final minute of the first quarter.
Though India might have gone ahead in the first quarter, Belgium were a constant threat in the second. India's defence stood firm, with PR Sreejesh making some good saves.
India were always looking a strong team on the counter. The game became entertaining as India were also asking questions, and were threatening to double their lead.
Sreejesh had a brilliant first half, with the goalkeeper playing an important role in denying Belgium the equaliser. Belgium earned a penalty corner in the dying minutes of the half, but they could not convert, hence India went into the break with a 1-0 lead.
The brilliance of Sreejesh once again kept Belgium at bay with another brilliant save early in the second half. But, Belgium finally managed to beat the goalkeeper and drew level. Sebastien Dockier scored a wonderful goal for Belgium, making the game interesting.
The goal gave Belgium huge confidence, and they were looking to score their second of the quarterfinal, and inch closer to the semis. With Belgium making all the moves, Dockier scored his second goal of the match in the final seconds of the third quarter.
Belgium more or less sealed their semis spot withTom Boon scoring a field goal in the 50th minute. Despite India applying much more pressure on Belgium, they could not score any goal in the final quarter, and the match ended 3-1 in favour of the European nation.
Belgium, thus, became the second team to reach the semi-finals of Rio 2016. They will face the winner of Australia vs Netherlands clash.
