Sebastien Dockier marked his 200th appearance for Belgium’s Red Lions with two goals to help his team to a 3-2 away victory over Spain as the FIH Hockey Pro League made a welcome return to action at the Estadio Betero in Valencia after a three-month hiatus.
The result puts the Red Lions 11 points clear at the top of the FIH Hockey Pro League standings, although they have played three more games than the Netherlands, who sit in second place.
The opening stages of a high-quality encounter, which was played behind closed doors under strict covid-19 health protocols, was dominated by the World and European champions, who deservedly opened up a two-goal lead in the first quarter. Dockier was the first to score, angling a brilliant backhand deflection into the roof of the Spanish goal before team captain Thomas Briels weaved into the circle before slotting home.
Spain hit back just before the end of the first quarter thanks to a fortuitous effort from David Alegre, with Xavi Lleonart – who like Dockier was also making his 200th appearance for his country – restoring parity late in the third quarter with a perfectly executed penalty corner deflection.
It was Dockier who had the final say though, netting the winner nine minutes from time with another wonderful diving backhand deflection high into the Spanish net to seal all three points.
"We had two difficult quarters where we didn't keep the ball enough”, said Dockier, who was named Player of the Match. “I think the quarters where we did, we created more chances and we scored, so that was the difference today. The main goal today was to just have a really good feeling about being back with the boys on the pitch. It was all about having fun and enjoying being with each other."
Spain captain Miguel Delas was disappointed but proud of his team’s performance and hopes his team will bounce back when the two teams meet again on Saturday (5 February).
"I have mixed feelings”, said Delas.” On one side it was really nice to play again after one year. I think that both teams were looking forward to starting again in the competition. But of course, we wanted to start with a win. Today I think we played a really good match, but we had a tough game in front of us. In the end, we have to be proud of what we did, and we are lucky that tomorrow we have another game, so we will go for it [in that match]"
More information on the game can be found by clicking here.
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FIH Hockey Pro League
Friday 5 February 2021 – Valencia (ESP)
Men’s result: Spain 2, Belgium 3 (Match 1 of 2)
Player of the Match: Sebastien Dockier (BEL)
Umpires: Francisco Vasquez (ESP) and Jakub Mejzlik (CZE)
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