Australia and Belgium will meet in the final field hockey match within the framework of the OI-2020. Who will get a medal of the highest standard?
Australia
Australia easily, confidently and naturally overcame the group stage, winning four victories with one draw. Only in the last round, the Australians allowed themselves to misfire and play 1-1 with Spain. Despite such confident indicators in the group, Australia had a very difficult time in the first match of the playoffs, in which it was opposed by the Netherlands-2: 2 in regular time 3: 0 on shootouts in favor of the Australians, who then performed more confidently in the semifinals, beating Germany 3-1.
Belgium
Belgium also follows the tournament path without defeats, which finished the group stage with the same results as Australia, and even the sequence turned out to be identical: 4 wins and a draw in the last round. As for the playoffs, the Belgians are still performing better in it and they don't bring it to the shootouts. In the quarterfinals, we coped with Spain-we lost 0: 1 after the first period, but scored three times in the second, and in the semifinals we defeated India-2: 2 in the first period and 3:0 in the second.
Statistics and figures:
- Australia has won six times with one draw;
- Belgium has not lost yet: 6 wins and a draw;
- Belgium has won against Australia in the last two confrontations.
Forecast
Perhaps, the strongest teams turned out to be in the final, which were better than the others at the group stage, and proved their superiority in the playoffs, showing skill somewhere, and character somewhere else. I think that the fight will be productive, even though this is the final. Australia and Belgium are not used to" drying out", they always act with an emphasis on attack, so they will try to prove themselves in the upcoming game at someone else's gate and create an advantage in the score.
