BHUBANESWAR: With a 2-0 victory against New Zealand in the second quarterfinal, Belgium secured a spot in the semifinals and dashed the hopes of the Kiwis of making their first-ever appearance in the last four of the World Cup.
Despite missing quite a few shots on target, the defending champion maintained control for the majority of the game and never seemed to be having any trouble. In actuality, the gap might have been much larger had Belgium not consistently struck wide. On the other end, New Zealand only generated a few half-chances that never seemed risky.
The second minute saw Belgium's first shot, but captain Felix Denayer was unable to connect in front of goal. After a few minutes, Tom Boon missed the target with a backhand shot as it appeared the Belgian forwards were in a rush to score. In the eleventh minute, Boon finally gave his team the lead by flipping in the first PC.
Following the restart, Belgium quickly increased its advantage thanks to a skillfully orchestrated play that began with Nicolas de Kerpel finding Simon Gougnard in space, who then quickly passed it back to Florent van Aubel on the run from close to the backline, who deflected it in. The Black Sticks made an effort to respond, but it was evident that the Belgians had done their research and had taken note of India's mistakes against the same opponent two days before.
They kept the pressure up even after they were ahead 2-0, did not give New Zealand any room in the middle, pressed hard while in possession, and stopped any counterattacks in their tracks. The Belgian defence, which mostly prevented New Zealand from entering the circle at the back, forced them to the 25-yard line before unleashing counterattacks. In an effort to get one back, their opponents kept cutting around both flanks in search of space to at least create PCs, but they were only able to do so once during the entire game since Belgian defenders were always ready to intercept.
Although the second half was relatively more relaxed, NZ scarcely approached the Belgian goal. Even though no additional goals were scored, Belgium won the game and will now face the winner of the quarterfinal between Netherlands and Korea on Wednesday night. All of the action was contained to its own half.
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