Belgian coach wary about ‘tough’ India

Rajeev Kumar

Bhubaneswar, Dec 10: On the eve of his side’s important quarterfinal encounter against India in the Champions Trophy (CT) here, the Belgium players practiced for over an hour to fine tune their strategies. On the sidelines of the practice session, Belgium coach Jeroen Delmee talked about his team’s plans and his hopes. Excerpts:

On meeting India again in quarterfinal of CT after 2012

Of course we will try to win. That’s an easy message.  We have been growing as a team in every match, performing better. It is important that we keep growing as a team and keep the same momentum going.

India as an opponent

We have seen yesterday (Tuesday) that India are a very dangerous opponent. They have high quality players. So we will prepare ourselves to be ready for the challenge.

Hockey fans of Bhubaneswar

It’s been a great experience for the team. We have played only in the afternoon. It will be a good experience when we play in front of a full house in the evening. It will give extra energy to our players.

The main challenge against India

The evolution of the team has been incredible in the last one year. They are much more organised now as compared to 12 months ago. So it will be very difficult to create opportunities against India.

Format of the tournament

I am not very happy with the format but it’s no use for me to complain. It’s a system, so we move along with it. I would like it more if you are rewarded for your efforts in the Pool matches.