Canada, ranked World No 20, began their journey in the 31st Sultan Azlan Shah Cup last night with a comfortable 1-1 draw against former World Cup champions and Olympic Games gold medalist Belgium in the 31st Sultan Azlan Shh Cup in Ipoh.
Mathew Sarmento, who was nominated for the Man of Match award, converted a penalty corner in the 27th minute that gave the Canadians the much-deserved draw against their far more illustrious opposition. Belgium replied through Thibeau Stockbroekx in the 57th minute.
The draw serves as a big blow to Belgium, ranked World No 3, who were expected to breeze past Canada.
For the record, Belgium is making its second appearance in the tournament after 17 years hiatus. They won the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and the 2018 Hockey World Cup and silver at 2023 World Cup in Bhubaneswar -Rourkela India.
Belgium also finished second behind champions Netherlands in the 9-team FIH 2024-2025 Pro League.
BELGIUM: Shane McLeod (Coach)
We are a bit disappointed with the 1-1 result. Credit to Canada as they defended well and played really well. We had a lot of opportunities too, but we are nevertheless happy with the comeback with the equalising goal.
This is our second appearance in this tournament, and we are not giving any excuses. Hopefully, we get back on track in the next matches. We don’t always play against Canada and today was another good opportunity.
CANADA: Patrick Tshutshani (Coach)
It was a tough game for us, and we rose to the occasion. The players handled well the opportunities and also held Belgium back from scoring. It was a great team performance. We play Malaysia next and obviously we will review our game today and also look at Malaysia’s game. The Malaysians have always been a strong team.
