Tom Bunn on the eve of the final race: “Maybe our group will make the difference”

(Bilga) The Hockey World Cup has entered its final phase, the stage during which every game can put an end to hopes of winning the title. The Red Lions, world champions and first in their group, will face Tuesday (2:30 pm Belgian) in the quarter-finals a surprising team from New Zealand, dropped from India after a penalty shootout session (3-3, 5. -4 so) worthy of a Bollywood scenario.

Tom Boon said: “I think New Zealand deserved to qualify. They managed to be good when we least expected them, after a very mediocre group stage”. “They have raised their level of play, and that proves that they are a mature team, with tremendous qualities. When you can beat India at home, you are capable of great things.” The striker, still officially five-timer against Japan on Friday (5-1), isn’t overly concerned about the issue of Alexander Hendricks, whose rest of the tournament appears to be in dotted lines. “I start from the principle that no one can be replaced. We saw that against Germany without Arthur van Doren for example. And when Alex left the game against Japan we responded differently by scoring goals from the full match. We have a very good group of players. 20 players, They are all capable of better. Perhaps that will make the difference against New Zealand,” analyzed Leopold, the current top scorer in the Belgian championship. “The New Zealand game is more square than the India game, but they may make more mistakes. It will be up to us to take advantage of it,” said the man, who scored 328 for the Red Lions. “If we get to the point where they can’t believe it anymore, we can relax. There, I think we are unstoppable. Otherwise, they can be very strong.” Favorite