Following two outstanding FIH Hockey Pro League victories against higher ranked Germany on home soil in Brussels, Belgium’s Red Panthers will aim replicate that superb form when they take on title holders and reigning Olympic, World and European champions the Netherlands in Amsterdam.
It is the second time in under a month that the neighbouring nations have faced each other at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen, on the southern outskirts of the Dutch capital. On 13th October in front of 4000 fans, the imperious Dutch claimed a 2-0 win in the first FIH Hockey Pro League match of the 2021-22 season, with legendary attacker and triple Olympic gold medallist Lidewij Welten opening the scoring after just 17 seconds.
However, the contest was far from one-sided and, following Belgium’s excellent 1-0 and 3-1 triumphs over Germany on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th October, the Red Panthers will be in confident mood and relishing the opportunity to challenge the finest women’s international hockey team on the planet. Under the guidance of head coach Raoul Ehren, the Dutchman who guided Den Bosch to huge success both domestically and in European competition, Belgium are clearly making big strides forward, with those triumphs over Die Danas taking them to an all-time high of 7th in the FIH Hockey World Rankings.
Whilst the Red Panthers clearly have a very exciting future ahead of them, they will know that they face an almighty challenge against Alyson Annan’s dazzling Dutch team. Annan has named nine Olympic gold medallists from Tokyo 2020 for this match, with Welten, captain Eva de Goede, Margot van Geffen, Pien Sanders and Xan de Waard amongst them.
A trio of players are set to make their senior international debuts for the Oranje, with Tessa Clasener (HDM), Fiona Morgenstern (Oranje-Rood) and Pleun van der Plas (Den Bosch) being given the chance to shine on the big stage as Annan – who in the October clash with Belgium gave debuts to Marente Barentsen and Joosje Burg, who have retained their places – continues to look at the potential stars of the future.
The matches will be available to watch via television or digital streaming thanks to our broadcast partnerships, as well as on the Watch.Hockey app in every country where a rights holding broadcaster is not showing the matches live.
More information about the upcoming matches can be found below.
Netherlands v Belgium (Women)
Where: Wagener Stadium (Amsterdam, NED)
Date: Wednesday 10 November 2021
Time (CET – UTC/GMT +1): 18:00.
Match page: Click here.
Current FIH World Ranking:Netherlands: 1 | Belgium: 7
Final standings - FIH Hockey Pro League 2019: Netherlands: 1 | Belgium: 5
Final standings - FIH Hockey Pro League 2020-21: Netherlands: 1 | Belgium: 7
Head-to-heads in all competitions (since 2013 – 19 matches)
Wins: Netherlands: 16 | Belgium: 2 | Draws: 1
Goals scored: Netherlands: 51 | Belgium: 9
Team pages (squads & statistics): Netherlands| Belgium
Keep up to date with all the latest news on the FIH Hockey Pro League via the Watch.Hockeyapp, event website and through FIH social media channels - Facebook, Instagramand Twitter.
Don’t forget to watch the FIH Hockey Pro League Show, where host Sarah Juggins and a panel of guests will be in discussion about the competition. The preview show will be available on Watch.Hockeyon Monday 8th November, with the post-match analysis -complete with match action clips – show going out on Thursday 11th November. We hope you enjoy the shows.
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