{"id":32995,"date":"2026-08-17T02:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T02:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/32995\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T02:55:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T02:55:09","slug":"from-golden-generation-to-new-era-belgium-begin-world-cup-campaign-with-narrow-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/32995\/","title":{"rendered":"From golden generation to new era: Belgium begin World Cup campaign with narrow win"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/virat-39.jpg\" alt=\"From golden generation to new era: Belgium begin World Cup campaign with narrow win\" title=\"Belgium\u2019s new generation carries forward golden legacy (Image: X)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>Belgium\u2019s new generation carries forward golden legacy (Image: X) When Belgium needed a moment of brilliance in their World Cup opener against France on Saturday, it was one of the old hands who stepped up.Alexander Hendrickx\u2019s penalty-corner goal in the 56th minute helped Belgium edge France 3-2. But while the result offered an early reminder of the quality and experience still present in the Belgian side, this is also a team trying to build its next chapter.The team that walked out for this World Cup was not quite the same side that won the title in 2018 and followed it up with Olympic gold in Tokyo. A generation of senior players has moved on, with Hendrickx saying nine or 10 players retired after the Paris Olympics.In their place has come a younger group being asked to carry forward the standards established by the golden generation.\u201cIt\u2019s always difficult to get that collective work to click perfectly straight away,\u201d captain Arthur van Doren said in the build-up to the tournament. \u201cWe\u2019ve worked quite hard on that, and we\u2019re now in a very good state of mind.\u201d The transition, however, has not meant abandoning the identity that has made Belgium one of the world\u2019s leading hockey nations.\u201cYou always adapt and evolve,\u201d added van Doren, who plays for Kalinga Lancers in the Hockey India League. Hendrickx, who has been at the heart of Belgium\u2019s success for more than a decade, meanwhile sees the younger generation bringing something different from the team.\u201cThey\u2019re learning quickly and they\u2019re quite physical,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Belgium\u2019s new generation carries forward golden legacy (Image: X) When Belgium needed a moment of brilliance in their&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[1350,1375,7,10549,1372,17816,1077,17814,17815,1849,17817],"class_list":["post-32995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-belgium","tag-alexander-hendrickx","tag-arthur-van-doren","tag-belgium","tag-belgium-golden-generation","tag-belgium-hockey-team","tag-french-hockey-team","tag-hockey-india-league","tag-hockey-players-retirement","tag-penalty-corner-goal","tag-world-cup","tag-young-hockey-players"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/117108600184358405","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}