Belgium’s women and the Dutch men will enjoy home comforts for the semi-finals of their FIH World Cup campaigns as they confirmed their place in the next phase of the competition.
For the Red Panthers, they had the relief of knowing their final group match against Argentina would not affect their advance to the semis.
That was thanks to Germany’s 4-1 win over Spain earlier in the day, denying the latter their mathematical chance of overtaking the Belgians.
As such, Belgium and Argentina played out a slightly low-key 0-0 draw at the Belfius Arena. It means the Red Panthers will welcome the Netherlands on Thursday evening while Argentina will face Australia.
Earlier, Scotland made it back to back wins as they defeated New Zealand 2-1 to reach the 11th place playoff; Ireland lost to USA 3-1 and will now play 13th on Thursday.
On the men’s side, the Dutch played out a cracker of a contest with England, eventually drawing 2-2. Argentina’s earlier 5-3 win over India meant the group was live with the English side needing to win by two-clear goals while the Netherlands needed to avoid a heavy defeat.
Stu Rushmere’s smartly taken goal gave England a great start but they were caught in a dramatic lead-up to half-time in which Thiery Brinkman had one effort denied only for Jip Janssen to score from the next play.
Brinkman’s brilliant control and finish made it 2-1 early in the second; an equally impressive Henry Croft snap-shot equalised and England piled on the pressure but they could not make further inroads.
It means the Dutch will play Spain in the semi-finals with Germany taking on Argentina on Friday evening in the Wagener Stadium.
** Picture: Will Palmer/World Sport Pics
