Belgium were the latest team to arrive in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha for the Hockey Junior Men’s World Cup. The Young Devils are in Pool A clubbed along with teams such as Chile, Malaysia, and South Africa. Therefore Belgium are looking to start the tournament on the high with a win.
“We have had an intense period with lots of training together combined with a very busy club competition. Finding a good balance between training together and playing for your club was vital for us to prepare well. We had a good friendly tournament in July 2021 in Spain and we hope to make the next steps here in Bhubaneswar,” asserted Jeroen Baart, head coach of Belgium.
Dyland Engelbert who is set to captain the Belgium Junior Men’s team at the World Cup pointed out how the players are driven towards one motive. he revealed how some of his teammates had the stadium pictures as lock screen proving how goal-oriented they are ahead of the tournament. Belgium captain Dylan Englebert said, “We are very excited. I know a lot of players have had pictures of the stadium as the lock screen of their phones. It has been a dream to come here and play at the biggest stadium of hockey. It will be the first time we will be playing in such a big stadium, so we are very excited.”
The youngster will be looking to take inspiration from their senior Belgium team. The Red Devils won the Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and their junior team will also be looking to replicate the same kind of performance at the Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup.
Belgium will start their campaign on November 24 against South Africa. When asked about the upcoming World Cup, head coach Baart said, “India will be, of course, a force to watch playing at home with the qualities they have.”
“We know Germany and Spain well and know that these are teams to watch. Never underestimate the Dutch team! Maybe the last one to mention is Argentina that can always be a dangerous opponent in a tournament like this,” he concluded.
