England up against the reigning championspublished at 11:26 British Summer Time 22 August 2019
England enjoyed a strong start to their EuroHockey Championships campaign with vicotry over Ireland and a draw against the Germans. That came before they survived a major scare as a late goal earned a 4-3 win over Belarus, who had lost their previous games 11-0 and 13-0.
That win nevertheless put them on top of Pool B and has teed up a semi-final against 2017 champions the Netherlands. England finished third in the previous edition and will need to up their game if they want to defeat the top-ranked side of the world and go one better than they did in Amstelveen.
The Dutch had a somewhat disappointing start to their group games, only earning draws against Belgium and eventual group winners Spain, but found another gear to thrash Russia 14-0 in their final match.