Men’s and women’s hockey teams runners-up in Amsterdam

Belgium’s men and women’s hockey teams were on the losing side of finals at the weekend after both were beaten by the Netherlands in the EuroHockey Nations Championship in Amsterdam.

As runners-up, they can both boast a remarkable performance, but they left the field disappointed that they weren’t taking home the trophy.

The men’s side, the Red Lions, were 2-0 up against reigning champions and hosts the Netherlands at half-time in Sunday’s final– and had also beaten them 5-0 six days earlier. But the Dutch claimed their fifth European gold in an extraordinary comeback, winning 4-2 in front of 10,000 people in Amsterdam’s Wagener stadium.

Belgium’s European silver medal equals the Red Lions’ best-ever result, when they lost in the final to Germany on home soil in 2013.

The women’s team, the Red Panthers, lost 3-0 to the Dutch on Saturday. Despite not scoring and finding themselves on the back foot for most of the match, Belgium achieved their best-ever European finish by beating Germany 1-0 in Thursday’s semi-final.

It came just a few weeks after the Red Panthers were beaten on penalties by South Korea in the final eight of the Women’s World League Semi-Finals in Brussels.

Photo: Dirk Waem/Belga