Spain and Belgium’s men followed their women to Paris 2024 as they won their Olympic qualifier semi-finals in Valencia as they got the best of Ireland and Korea, respectively.
For Spain, two penalty corner goals in the third quarter did the damage as they won 2-0, leaving the Green Machine with one last chance on Saturday against Korea.
After a scoreless first half, Rafael Villalonga pounced on a high, loose ball after an initial drag-flick was blocked on the right post from his side’s first corner.
Four minutes later, Marc Miralles found the backboard with a low drag-flick for 2-0 and while Ireland fought back to create some chances in the closing quarter, they could not find a way past Luis Calzado.
For reigning Olympic champions Belgium, they eventually broke down a stubborn Korean defensive effort to win 4-0. The breakthrough came in the 29th minute when Nelson Onana picked up the ball after a turnover and played a perfect pass to Tanguy Cosyns to score the first goal.
They continued to push on in the second half and got some extra insurance via Florent van Aubel slapping home first time from a right-wing cross.
Tom Boon added another captain Felix Denayer smashed a shot into the top of the net to close out the win and start the celebrations in earnest.
Two more men’s tickets to Paris will be determined on Saturday in Oman when Germany face Pakistan and Great Britain battling against New Zealand.
On the women’s side, Germany landed gold from the qualifier in Ranchi with a 2-0 win over USA while Japan took the final Olympic spot on offer when they defended incredibly to defeat India 1-0.
The last women’s spot at Paris will go down to a battle between Ireland and Great Britain in Valencia on Saturday afternoon (3.30pm CET).
