Hockey World Cup 2023: 'Very pleased that we are in the semis, but it will become harder' - Australia's Batch
Hockey World Cup 2023: Australia's formidable performance has been no surprise, as it has made it to the semis. However, head coach Colin Batch has warned that things would only get tougher hereon.
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FollowThe world's top two sides, Belgium and Australia, have achieved their primary goal of reaching the semi-finals of the 2023 FIH Men's Hockey World Cup and having accomplished it the hard way. They are not taking anything for granted. Last edition's bronze medallists and world No.1 Australia came back from two goals down to beat Spain 4-3 while defending champion and Olympic gold medallist Belgium fended off a spirited challenge from New Zealand in the second half to emerge 2-0 winners in their quarter-final matches at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar on Tuesday.
"It [HWC] is a tough competition against tough teams. There are no easy games. It will become harder and harder, but we are very pleased that we are in the semi-finals. We were in a difficult position at the start. Spain played very well, defended well and made counter-attacks. The goal just before half-time gave us the momentum, and we did very well in the second half, especially the third quarter," Australian head coach Colin Batch said.
It was Australia's 12th straight semi-final entry in the HWC since the 1978 edition, which shows its consistency in the showpiece event. "We have to be at our best in a World Cup. There is no escape from that. It will only get tougher as you go ahead in the tournament," Australian skipper Aran Zalewski added.
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In the last edition in 2018, Australia lost to the Netherlands in the semi-finals in a penalty shootout. The Kookaburras will likely be up against the Dutch again in the semi-finals on Friday. Asked about this, Batch said, "A shootout is a shootout, and we also have to prepare for that."
Belgium captain Felix Denayer said anything could happen in the semi-finals, and what his team can do is try and play their best game. "We will grow in the tournament, analyse this game [against New Zealand] and all the details, and see if there is room for improvement. That is the only thing we can do. We can only hope to play our best. We dream of winning the title, but we will first focus on the semi-finals. Back-to-back titles will be brilliant," he stated.
Talking about the quarter-final match against New Zealand, Denayer said, "We missed chances, but the only result we wanted was a win, and we achieved that. We must respect New Zealand because they played an amazing game against India in this atmosphere. It means they have a lot of qualities and show many different traits against us. We are delighted with this result, and we look forward to the semi-finals and will prepare for that."
Star forward Tom Boon contributed one goal, and Denayer was not surprised by that. "It is no surprise that Tom Boon is scoring goals, and I have been playing with him for a long time. He can do amazing things inside the circle. But I am sure he is not here to become the top scorer but to win the title," he reckoned.
Boon, on his part, said winning matches for the team was his main priority. "I do my best for the team. We could have scored more goals. We made the right choices in the first half but did not do that in the second half. They [New Zealand] had more of the ball and put pressure on us. We bent a little, but it was a good effort from our defence," noted Boon.
Boon is currently joint second on the goal-scorers chart with six strikes, along with Victor Charlet of the already-eliminated France. Jeremy Hayward of Australia is on top with seven goals. New Zealand skipper Nic Woods was disappointed but said his team had learnt lessons from the HWC. "We learnt lessons from the game. We created a lot of chances but could not score any goals. We will be back to the drawing board," he assumed.
The New Zealand team has some amateur-level and semi-pro players doing part-time jobs and playing games in their spare time. Asked about it, Woods said, "Money makes things move around. The circumstances forced us to study, work, and make other commitments that made us stay away from hockey. We are unfortunate in that sense as compared to other countries which have professional setups with their training."
"If we have that one day, our hockey will be sky-high in professionalism, popularity and skill set. The more professional contracts we pick up abroad, the better for the team. We have eight-nine players playing in Europe; the more, the better. The experience we get playing with some of the best in the world will be great for the team," concluded Woods.
(With inputs from PTI)
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