Bhubaneswar: Olympic silver medallists Belgium cruised into the Hockey World Cup final for the first time by defeating England at Kalinga Stadium here on Saturday.
Displaying a stunning performance, the Belgium side beat England by 6-0 in the semi-final of the tournament.
The match seemed one sided affair as Belgium completely outclassed their rivals.The goal scorers of the Belgium team were Tom Boon (8th), Simon Gougnard (19th), Cedric Charlier (42nd) Alexander Hendrickx (45th,50th), Sebastien Dockier (53rd).
Belgium that seemed dominating from the very start opened the game on aggressive note while England appeared mere spectators in their defensive mode.
Alexander Hendrickx had a match to remember as he scored two goals against England becoming the top goal scorers of the tournament.
Tom Boon turned the ball past George Pinner putting Belgium ahead after nine minutes. Simon Gougnard flashed the ball in from a tight angle becoming first to react after Pinner made a good save from a penalty corner.
The Belgium team played the match wearing black arm bands to pay respect to their teammate Simon Gougnard’s father who passed away before the match.
While the world number three dominated possession in the first two quarters and created a couple of promising chances, two of which resulted in goals, the game became tough for England as their strikers failed to create opening.
In other semi-final, Netherlands beat Australia 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]