Today, our national U20 team, led by coach Gil Paelinck, concludes the four-nation tournament in Geleen. This was an excellent opportunity for coach Paelinck’s team to begin the selection process for the upcoming World Cup in Serbia, scheduled for early January 2025. Gil invited 20 players and 4 goalkeepers for the training camp, and with opponents like Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Germany (Kölner Haie), Belgium was the underdog and aimed to surprise.
In addition to the matches, there were daily training sessions, and the players stayed at the nearby Watersley sports park. Despite losing the first two games, our boys managed to pull off two significant surprises. They lost to Great Britain (a 2A team ranked 8 places higher than Belgium) by only 4 goals and narrowly lost to the Netherlands (a 2A team ranked 6 places higher) 4-3, with a powerplay goal in the last 2 minutes.
Today august 11, 2024, our boys play their final match against Cologne at 11:00 AM. Afterward, the coaching staff will continue the challenging selection process during the regular season. Several preparatory matches are scheduled for November and December.