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The Indian team is going to face Belgium in its last match in the Hockey World Cup. This is a 7th/8th place classification match. Team India had come to the World Cup to end the medal drought that had been going on for 51 years, but its dream has been shattered. Now they would like to return home with a win but they face a tough challenge from co-hosts and current Pro-League champions Belgium.

The Indian team, which played the first and second leg matches in Amstelveen, Netherlands, is going to enter this classification match after finishing fourth in Pool-E. The path for the team captained by Harmanpreet Singh will not be easy, because in front of it is the 2018 World Cup champion and the world number two team, which was considered a strong contender for the title before the start of the tournament. Belgium will also try its best to win the last match after recovering from the shock of being out of the race for the semi-finals.

Indian team was eliminated after losing to Argentina

The Indian team, which was eliminated after losing the last match of the second round against Argentina, has been facing criticism throughout the tournament for a slow start and not being able to maintain the rhythm for 60 minutes. To keep the hope of reaching the semi-finals alive, India had to defeat Argentina by a big margin but the team could not escape the pressure after conceding a goal in the 39th second itself. The defense continued to crumble and the forward line lacked coordination, while Argentina took full advantage of the gap in midfield to register a 5-3 win, knocking India out of the race for the last four.

India have scored 14 goals and conceded 16 in the tournament. Apart from securing seventh place in the World Cup, India will also have to regain its lost confidence by defeating a strong opponent before next month's Asian Games. After the disappointment in the World Cup, now the aim of the Indian team will be to qualify directly for Los Angeles Olympics 2028 by winning the gold medal in the Asian Games to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

India will have to improve this

India will have to add variety to the penalty corners. This is because excessive dependence on Captain Harmanpreet is taking a toll. In the midfield, Manpreet Singh and Hardik Singh will have to use their experience, which has not been visible yet. Even against Paris Olympic champions Netherlands, after playing well for 40 minutes, India lost three goals in the last twenty minutes and suffered a 1-3 defeat.

In the pool stage, India defeated Pakistan 5-3 and Wales 3-1 but lost to England 4-2. The Indian team, which entered the World Cup with great expectations and preparations, was expected to be on the podium for the first time since 1975, but India's dream was shattered due to its mistakes and poor play. Indian team head coach Craig Fulton believes that there will be no scope for mistakes against Belgium and his team will have to show its best game.

What did Fulton say about Belgium?

Fulton said, 'If I talk about my team, we will try to leave the tournament with a win. Our work is not done yet and we have to perform well. Belgium is a great team and is among the top-3 teams in the world. They too will not be happy with their performance in the tournament. They have a different way of playing and they have great players. Their penalty corner attack and defense are excellent and we have to deliver a disciplined performance. We need to improve the defence, on the basis of which we will be able to perform well in future.