Defending Champions Belgium arrive in Odisha for FIH Hockey Men's World Cup 2023

Defending Champions Belgium arrived in Odisha on Friday for the FIH Odisha Hockey Mens World Cup 2023 BhubaneswarRourkelaBelgium which has some of the biggest stars in world hockey were welcomed at the Biju Patnaik International Airport by a large gathering of fansThey are placed in Pool B along with Germany Japan and Korea and will begin their campaign on January 14 against Korea in BhubaneswarLed by Captain Felix Denayer the Red Lions are hoping to repeat their performance of the FIH 2018 Mens Hockey World Cup and retain the trophy If they are able to do so they will become only the fourth nation after Pakistan 1978 1982 Germany 2002 2006 and Australia 2010 2014 to win two consecutive editions of the Mens Hockey World CupSpeaking on their expectations from the tournament Denayer said We are really well prepared We have been to a training camp in Spain where we won all our games So there is a lot of confidence in our camp that we will do well in the tournament But obviously we know its always a really tough competition so we are really really excited to get startedDenayer further listed out the teams that he believes will pose a tough challenge for his side and explained why retaining the trophy would not be an easy feat for their team despite the lengthy preparations for the tournamentWell there are a lot of favorites I think Obviously Australia then I think Netherlands Germany and India at home are always strong opponents Then there are teams who are performing well such as England and Argentina so I think it will not be an easy competition for anyone stated the BelgianThe memories of the thrilling finale between the Netherlands and Belgium from the 2018 World Cup are still fresh in the minds of the Belgium players The match that was decided by a shootout had witnessed intense drama after Arthur de Sloovers winning shot in the shootout was denied after a review and the Belgium team had to stop their celebrations midwayAlso read2023 Hockey WC to be played in four newlylaid pitchesBut Belgian goalkeeper Vincent Vansach managed to make the Netherlands player Jonas de Geus miss his final shot and the celebrations restarted in the Belgium camp as they won their firstever World Cup trophyOn being asked if the tournament will witness similar moments of intense drama this time around as well Denayer said Yeah I think the tournament will be a challenge but we also have the experience so we feel confident and we are very hungry to retain the trophy We are an ambitious group And I think we need these kinds of challenges to perform at our best levelMeanwhile Belgium Head Coach Michel van den Heuvel expressed delight to see the excitement among the fans in Odisha for the upcoming tournament At the same time he explained why everyone always enjoys playing in front of Indian crowdsWe love to be here and again in Bhubaneswar This is what we play for the Indian crowds because its the best hockey crowd in the world We are here to defend our world title and we are prepared very well for that We are looking forward to the start of the tournament The crowd here is always fantastic Everybody is really excited to be here and to play for this crowd So its not difficult to manage at all despite the loud cheers said the Belgium coachInterestingly Shane McLeod the experienced Coach who led the Belgium team to the World Cup and Tokyo Olympics 2020 trophy wins is returning with the contingent as Assistant Coach after a brief sabbatical Apart from him there are several experienced campaigners in the squad as well including veteran JohnJohn Dohmen who has earned over 400 international capsCoach Heuvel explained how the presence of such individuals in the contingent will be helpful for his team in the competition Well all of them are very experienced and they know the game They have played here before and won the trophy So even though we are under difficult circumstances this time their presence will help the team Its so great to have them in our squad he signed offThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever