After defending Olympic champion Argentina, silver medalist of Rio Belgium has also gained direct entry to 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games Hockey event for men. In the final of the European Cup for men at Antwerp on Saturday, Belgium defeated Spain 5-0 to win the gold and thus become the fourth continental champion after Japan, Argentina, and South Africa to get confirmed entry to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Earlier in the bronze medal match, the Netherlands defeated Germany 4-0.
Belgium's emphatic win over Spain in the final before a record home crowd must have warmed the cockles of hearts of fans of the home team. And interestingly, the win was the collective and concerted efforts of some of the key players of the Belgian players, including most capped Joh-John Dohmen (385 caps) who scored the first goal in the 10th minute, skipper Thomas Briels (335 caps), who accounted for the fourth goal for his team, and drag-flick specialists Tom Boon and Alexander Hendrickx, who scored the third and the fifth goal for the new European champions. The second goal for Belgium came in the 17th-minute ad came through the stick of Florent van Aubel.
Last time Belgium lost to Spain was in 2017. Since then Belgium has won all the games.
Earlier, in the bronze medal game, the Netherlands reasserted its supremacy against its traditional rival Germany. Though it was a close game, the Netherlands made full use of is opportunities, including a penalty stroke while Germany failed to use any of its chances, including penalty corners.
Bjorn Kellerman put the Netherlands ahead in the 19th minute before Mirco Pruijser consolidated the lead further in the 43rd minute. Two goals in the last two minutes made the tally 4-0 for the Dutch. First, it was Jerome Hertzberger who converted the penalty stroke in the 58th minute and in the last minute Mink van der Warden scored the final goal of the bronze medal match to give the Netherlands a clear win.
