Friday, December 13, 2013

10th Junior Men’s World Cup Hockey: Germany overcome Netherlands to reach final

Defending champions Germany vanquished 2009 runners-up Netherlands 5-3 in an intriguing tussle to reach the final of the FIH 10th Hero Junior Men’s World Cup hockey tournament at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi.

The black and white brigade were given an early lead by penalty corner expert Lukas Windfeder in the 4th minute. It was Windfeder who doubled the lead for Germany as they held on to the two-goal cushion at half-time.

Highly rated Christopher Ruhr made things even more difficult for the Dutch slotting home the third goal in the 47th minute.

Trailing 0-3 with 21 minutes remaining on the clock, the Netherlands mounted a serious fightback, scoring two goals in two minutes to trigger more excitement into the contest.

Tom Hiebendaal converted a penalty stroke while Thierry Brinkman made it 2-3. The match got even more enlivened when Tom Hiebendaal again scored off a penalty stroke in the 60th minute.

The match could have either way in the final ten minutes of play, but it was Germany who showed more composure with Max Kapaun giving his side the lead with only four minutes remaining.

Four minutes in hockey can be adequate time for any side to score and the Dutch must have fancied their chances, but all those hopes went up in smoke when Niklas Wellen poured cold water over it scoring the fifth goal in the 68th minute to finish off the contest for the Germans, who now face a surprising final opponent in France, who slugged out Malaysia 3-1 in a penalty shootout after both teams were locked 1-1 in regulation time.

The Netherlands will play Malaysia for the bronze medal play-off, while Belgium will meet Australia for the fifth spot.

Korea lock horns with New Zealand for the seventh spot while hosts India take on arch-rivals Pakistan for the 9th spot.

South Africa face Argentina for the 12th spot, while England and Spain square of for the 13th spot. Canada play Egypt for the 15th spot.

Picture Courtesy FIH

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