Belgium Red Panthers came into the FIH Pro League as a late replacement team but since joining the higher ranked nations they have proved themselves more than ready for this level of competition. Three games in and Belgium (World Ranking:13) sit in third place in the league table having recorded wins over Australia (WR:3) and New Zealand (WR:6) and a 2-0 loss to Argentina (WR:4) in the opening women’s match of the new competition.
Head Coach Niels Thijssen is cautiously pleased with the start his team has made. We caught up with him as the team prepared to take on USA (WR:12) at the American team’s Spooky Nook headquarters.
“Joining the FIH Pro League was an exciting one for us of course. Our journey began with a trip around the world, preparing in Germany, then Chile, to play Argentina. This was followed by matches against New Zealand and Australia. To be together full time with the group is always really beneficial. It’s simply easier to focus and spend time on improving together. So from that perspective it already was a success. The results – two wins out of the three games – were above expectation and a bit of a bonus for us. It’s a confirmation that we are on the right track.”
Since that heady beginning to their FIH Pro League journey, Belgium have played fewer matches than anyone except Great Britain. How will a long break between fixtures impact the team and its momentum?
"The re-start is a totally different scenario and one we never faced before,” says Thijssen. “We are used to, like in January, having the group together for several weeks before going into international games. But after our January matches, the players went back to their clubs, studies and work, with way less weekly time together then we are used to.
“If you look across the whole year, there is a limit to what we can ask from our players. We need to balance their total programme to make sure they are still fresh and fit in October/November this year.”
The demand on the players is huge. On Sunday, all the athletes were involved in club matches. On Tuesday they arrived in the USA and on Friday they will play an important match against USA. As Thijssen says: “That is very different to what we are used to, but the players are agile, they adapt well.”
While two out of three matches have gone their way, Thijssen is always looking for things that could be improved upon. He says all the teams in the league are “playing to win, with less tournament stress.” This, he says, makes the games more open and more prone to surprise results.
Looking ahead to Friday’s match with USA, the Red Panthers are ready to face the challenge posed by a supremely fit and hard working team.
“USA is a team which has gone through some changes in the last months/years, but their playing style and strengths haven’t changed much,” says Thijssen. “Janneke is getting them playing better every game. It’s their first game here at Spooky Nook, in their own environment and timezone, clearly giving them an advantage.
“We’ll try to stay close to our own game and bring the best performance we can on game day. Against this USA side in their current form, that will be a difficult one for sure.”
The match USA v Belgium takes place Friday 29 March 19:00 local time. (GMT-4)
