CHARLEROI - On July 23rd, the third day of play at the European Championships inline hockey in Charleroi, the Belgian teams in action registered wins and losses.
Team U19 Men lost its first game in the morning against the Czech Republic 2-9 but won again in the afternoon against Germany putting a 1-4 on the scoreboard.
Assistant-coach Tomas Martin Soeder: “Today was a strange day as we faced a rival of the top division. We started well but lost against the Czechs but took some positive things from that game. We scored twice. We put these positive items in our second game against Germany. We learned from our mistakes although we won the first game against Germany too. We played with more confidence.”
Once the score opened the confidence was indeed there. “The guys are not used to score. Until today we only scored 1 goal. But today that changed. We got two powerplays and we saw a different team on the rink. It’s obvious that the team is growing in this tournament. They learn from every single game. They adapt very well and learn from their rivals as well. Tomorrow, we face Switzerland. We must play them the same way we tackled these last games.”
Our SEN Women suffered two defeats. In the morning they lost 2-9 in the quarterfinals against a strong Namibia. In the evening match they also failed to hold off Finland. Team Suomi outsmarted the Belgian goalie 8 times. The Red Wheels were able to score once.
“It was a difficult game against a strong Namibian Team,” says coach Imanol Rodriguez. “As a coach I’m happy because the girls gave their 100%. They are playing a good tournament. It’s a bit disappointing for them with only one victory so far. Finish the tournament with our heads up. They have improved a lot.”
"We are a strong team, but we notice here that we still have a lot of work ahead of us," stated team captain Ellen Clincke. "We try to support each other, it's a nice, but difficult start."
"Every match we play, we grow as a team," adds Lies Cranskens. "Every match you have new working points and new goals. We try to work on those, we don't always succeed, but we do our best to finish the tournament nicely."
"Our strongest opponent here at the European Championships was undoubtedly France, the reigning world champion," Joke Goethals said. "That was a match we were able to learn a lot from. It was therefore an honor to be able to play against such a great team."
Tomorrow, the ladies will play for 7th or 8th place against Ireland. "We have already won from them at this EC," Clincke stated. "Now we recharge the batteries and start tomorrow's match afresh. A victory is an achievable goal so we're going to go for it again. Belgium got a great start. A new women's team has been added in Wallonia. It is great that women's inline hockey is on the rise. Our participation in this European Championship is also going to give another boost."
"It was important for our Belgian ladies to participate in this EC. Also, to show that we can stand our ground," Goethals said. "We must seize the opportunity to evolve further now to further promote the sport for ladies and girls."
RESULTS DAY 3
U19 MEN
BEL vs. CZE: 2-9
BEL vs. GER: 4-1
SEN WOMEN
BEL vs. NAM: 2-9
BEL vs. FIN: 1-8