Rourkela: Belgium continued their good run in the FIH Pro League as they beat Argentina 5-3 to make it three wins in three matches at Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela on Friday. Alexander Hendrickx (49th, 54th) scored a brace while Arthur de Sloover (36th), Tobias Biekens (39th) and Roman Duvekot (55th) found the target once each for Belgium. As for Argentina, Tomas Domene (19th) and Matias Rey (45th) scored the two goals. Belgium will now face off against India on Saturday and Belgium coach Shane McLeod is looking forward to the game considering India went down 0-8 in their last match against Argentina.Speaking about the upcoming game, McLeod said, “I don’t think it helps us because I think India will be keen to play well. They are very proud side and they would have been disappointed with their effort against Argentina and I’m sure that they will come out firing. We have to be ready for that the first 15 minutes.”As for the team’s performance on Friday, the coached was quite pleased with how it went. “Feeling is really good. Each game has been different and the guys have delivered well and the confidence is growing with this group. There are quite a few new or newish players in the squad and they have done well,” added the coach, who led the team to victory during the 2018 World Cup and the Tokyo Olympics.Earlier, Argentina took the lead through Domene in the second quarter, but Belgium struck twice in the third to go 2-1 ahead. The South Americans, however, restored parity when Rey scored a fine field goal in the final minute of the quarter.Just when Argentina seemed to have the upper hand, Belgium turned the game around, scoring three goals in a six-minute burst in the fourth quarter to seal a 5-2 win. Argentina had a chance to pull one back in the final minute when they won a penalty corner, but the effort hit the first rusher, leading to a brief commotion. In the end, Tomas Ruiz was shown a yellow card after a video referral.
