Alejandro Alonso and Jose Basterra’s first half goals propelled Spain through to the men’s semi-finals as they out-did Belgium 2-1, sending the Red Lions into Pool C.

They defended smartly and looked dangerous on the counter-attack while the Belgians could never their full rhythm in a tough game.

Alonso scored in the last minute of the first quarter, joining a full-pitch counter-attack late in the move to sweep home off the stick of Loic Van Doran.

Nico De Kerpel equalised three minutes into Q2 with a brilliant first time strike on his backhand which was too quick for Luis Calzado.

But the Spaniards were in front before the big break when José Basterra profited when Tommy Willems miscontrolled in the circle. He only needed an instant to fire home on his backhand.

The second half saw Belgium having most of the ball but Spain looked the more threatening on the break. With Calzado in strong form, they had enough on the scoreboard to record a great win and just a second semi-final appearance in the last eight editions of the competition.