EuroHockey: England men lose to Belgium as women defeated by Germany

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Dohmen, who earned a record 454th international cap, made his debut for Belgium when he was 16

England's men were beaten 5-3 by Olympic champions Belgium in the first pool game of their EuroHockey campaign.

Nick Bandurak scored twice to add to a Sam Ward strike as England reached half-time 3-1 up, but two goals from Florent van Aubel brought Belgium level in Monchengladbach, Germany.

Loick Luypaert and Alexander Hendrickx then converted penalty corners in the third quarter to earn Belgium the win.

Meanwhile, England women lost 5-0 to Germany in their second pool game.

They held out until Lena Micheel scored from a penalty corner after 37 minutes and Sonja Zimmermann extended the lead four minutes later to pile the pressure on.

Things got worse for England in the third quarter when Jette Fleschutz and Pauline Heinz found the net within three minutes of each other and Fleschutz had the final say with her second goal in the last minute of the game

The women will play Scotland in their final pool game on Tuesday while the men play Austria on Monday before facing Spain on Wednesday.

Before the men's match, Belgium midfielder John-John Dohmen received a special presentation for earning a record-breaking 454th international cap.

Dohmen, 35, made his debut for Belgium as a 16-year-old and was part of his side's Tokyo Olympic gold medal-winning campaign in 2021, as well as lifting the World Cup in 2018.