TT beaten 7-2 by Belgium; finish bottom of group at Indoor Hockey World Cup

Trinidad and Tobago men's hockey team failed to advance past the group stages at the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup in Porec, Croatia on February 6 as they were hammered 7-2 by Belgium in their final pool C match at the Zatika Sport Centre.

Needing to land a win to give themselves any chance of advancing to the quarterfinals as one of the best third-placed teams, the "Calypso Stickmen" gave the Belgians a good fight early on and even took a third-minute lead through Mickell Pierre.

Belgian captain Philippe Simar scored a jaw-dropping seven goals in a 7-3 win over Australia on February 5, and he drew his team level against TT with a goal just before the end of the first quarter.

Despite end-to-end-action, the teams went into the half locked at 1-1.

Coach Raphael Govia's team started the second half brightly, and Pierre had a close-range effort just stopped by the goalkeeper in the 21st minute. A minute later, Tanguy Zimmer made a spectacular clearance on the line to stop a goal-bound effort from TT star player Teague Marcano.

In the 24th minute, Belgium got their first lead of the game when Gaetan Dykmans struck a penalty past goalkeeper Ron Alexander after Jordan Reynos was penalised for an infringement in the area.

TT got back on level terms in the 26th minute, though, as Pierre netted his second for the game with a point-blank finish at the end of a nice run from Marcano.

In the 28th minute, Simar scored his second goal of the game to ensure Belgium went into the final quarter with a 3-2 lead.

With the Belgians finally finding their groove, they turned up the heat in the final quarter to charge past TT.

"We basically did everything right in those 30 minutes in the first three quarters," Govia told Newsday via WhatsApp. "Defensively, we got Ron Alexander in and that made a huge difference. He's still in pain, but he still fought through battles with his little injury.

"We got many opportunities at goal, but we just weren't clinical enough."

With the TT team running out of steam, Belgium pressed home their advantage and put four unanswered goals past Alexander to affirm their spot as group winners with a third consecutive victory.

Simar was at the heart of Belgium's attacks, and he scored his third in the 33rd minute with a finish into the top corner after receiving a pass from Dylan Englebert. In the 39th minute, Simar grabbed his beaver-trick and made it 5-2 as he put the finishing touches on a slick counter-attack involving Englebert and Dykmans.

In the final 90 seconds, the Calypso Stickmen wilted under the Belgian pressure as Zimmer and Mallory Magnant scored to add gloss to the scoreline.

It was TT's third straight loss in the tourney after defeats to Australia (2-7) and Namibia (3-6) on February 3 and 5 respectively.

The Aussies edged Namibia to second spot in pool C on goal difference after the teams played to a thrilling 5-5 draw on February 6. Both teams will join group winners Belgium in the quarterfinals.

It's not the end of the road for TT just yet, as they will contest the classification round which will determine the teams finishing ninth though 12th. From 4.40 am (TT time) on February 7, TT will play hosts Croatia, who finished bottom of pool A. With a win, TT will contest the ninth-place match on February 9, while a defeat will relegate them to the 11th-place match.

Govia said the main aim is now to secure ninth spot, but his team's focus must first be placed on getting past Croatia.