Belgians will battle Ireland

IRELAND and Belgium’s meeting today in Pool A of the World Cup hockey qualifier in Changzhou will be unlike any of the six games the sides have played against each other in the last two years.

For a start, this is a competitive fixture, and, with so much at stake, the Irish are particularly mindful of the fact their opponents have recorded two excellent results - a 5-2 win against Egypt and a 2-2 draw with Pakistan.

Assistant Belgian coach Pascal Kina, said last night they would prefer not to be meeting the Irish in the wake of their win 2-1 win over Canada on Thursday.