It’s India vs Dutch in quarters, Pakistan out

Indervir Grewal  in Bhubaneswar

THE Netherlands gave India a reminder of their scoring prowess with a 5-0 thumping of Canada before their coach and captain hinted that the world No. 4 would not let the hosts feel at home in the quarterfinals. The Dutch took their time to get going against world No. 11 Canada. It was expected in a knockout match. But the 16th-minute goal by Lars Balk freed them up. Robbert Kemperman’s strike four minutes later only made them more audacious in their attacks. The Dutch were free-flowing — they had 38 circle entries and 20 shots. They weren’t bad in defence either, letting Canada into their circle just six times.

Thijs van Dam (40th, 58th) and Thierry Brinkman (41st) also got their names on the scoresheet, but the Netherlands could have scored many more. Netherlands coach Max Caldas, though, was “happy” with the performance. “We were able to create chances in all quarters,” Caldas said at the post-match press conference.

From Canada, the questions quickly shifted to India, whom the Dutch play in the quarterfinals on Thursday. India have not played a match since Saturday, which means a break of four days before the next match. Caldas hinted at his team’s advantage in terms of match practice. “We are happy to play (extra match) rather than practice,” said Caldas.

India were dominant in the pool matches, even managing to unsettle world No. 3 Belgium in their 2-2 draw. A vehement crowd support also played a part, which the India coach has also acknowledged. But Caldas said that his side would not be overwhelmed by the crowd; neither would they let India take control. “We like to set our own pace,” Caldas said. “It is not for the first time that we are playing India in India. And we are used to playing in front of big crowds.” Captain Billy Bakker said the team wouldn’t be too concerned about the crowd support for India. “There is also home-crowd pressure on India to perform. We will also get energy from the crowd,” Bakker said.

Belgium send Pak packing

Belgium also had an easy outing on the blue turf as they ousted Pakistan after a 5-0 win. Alexander Hendrickx (10th), Thomas Briels (13th), Cedric Charlier (27th), Sebastien Dockier (35th) and Tom Boon (53rd) scored in the lop-sided encounter. They will have a much harder challenge in the quarters against Germany.