Red Lions whip Spain to take first European gold (and now eye a triple)
The Belgian national hockey team, the Red Lions, have taken the European crown before their home crowd in Antwerp. The World Champions downed Spain 5-0 in the final. The Belgians have now managed the double World Championships-European Championships and will be longing to make it a triple in next year's Olympic Games.
The Red Lions have had a strong team for some time now, but narrowly missed the Olympic Gold 3 years ago, losing the final to Argentina. In 2017, they lost the European final to the hosting country, the Netherlands, but the tables finally turned last year, when they became World Champions. In India, they squeezed past the Netherlands in the final winning the shoot-outs.
With the Euro Hockey Championships taking place in Belgium, they were eager to fill a second gap with a first European title, and succeeded. Part 3 of the mission will be to claim the Olympic title next year in Tokyo. The Belgians have secured their Olympic ticket now, after taking the European title.
Belgium had beaten Spain in the group phase and repeated this effort
Yesterday, Belgium steamrolled through in the Euro final after a difficult semi-final against Germany. They had beaten Spain 5-0 in the group phase and managed to repeat this effort. Belgium were determined not to underestimate Spain and were leading 4-0 half-time.
And they had more reason to celebrate: while Victor Wegnez was chosen as the tournament's best player, Vincent Vanasch was the best goalkeeper. Tom Boon and Alexander Hendrickx each scored 5 goals to share the top scorer's title.
