Bhubaneswar

Defending champion Belgium overpowered Netherlands 3-2 in the penalty shootout after playing a 2-2 draw in a semi-final battle to set up a championship showdown with Germany at the ongoing FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup on Friday.

The bronze medal match, which will take place on January 29, will feature Netherlands and Australia, who both lost their respective semi-final matches on Friday. After the bronze medal match, Germany and Belgium will battle it out for the trophy.

No team put too many players at risk in the attack because of the possibility that their opponent would launch a counterattack. As a result, with the score tied 2-2 in regulation time, the game went to a shootout, much like the 2018 Men's World Cup finals when these two teams previously faced off.

Vanasch, who had also been excellent in the game, shone in the shoot-outs, pressuring Netherlands into 3 misses from their 5 takes, earning his side a 3-2 victory. The Belgians were clinical in the shoot-outs, scoring 3 of their first 4 attempts despite the best efforts of the in-form Dutch keeper Blaak.

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In the second semi-finals, Germany overcame a two-goal deficit to shock World No. 1 Australia 4-3. Niklas Wellen scored the game-winning goal.