For the first time in six years, Germany’s hockey men have reached the final of a major tournament. DHB won the semi-final against England in Amsterdam.
AMSTERDAM (AP) – German hockey men are playing the EM Final for the first time since 2015. The DHB team won their semi-final against England 3:2 (3:1) in Amsterdam on Thursday.
“We deserve it, I’m so proud of the boys,” said top scorer Martin Zwicker, whose team will now look to the game winner on Saturday (12.30pm). Holland against Belgium Meets. “It was a physical battle that required a lot of strength,” said national team coach Qais Al-Saadi. “I succeeded through the position, the fight and the good performance in goalkeeping.”
The second in Group B had already taken the lead after 51 seconds through a Martin Hanner penalty, but Adam Dixon (4th minute) also used the first English penalty to equalize. Then, Hanner’s Berlin teammate Zucker (9) scored the second German corner kick in the sidelines, before Niklas Velen (13) increased the difference on the counter-attack. Christopher Rohr (15) had a 4:1 on the racquet, but failed the position.
The England team lost contact in the third division when the German defense saved around goalkeeper Alexander Stadler three consecutive penalties (42). Sixth place in the world rankings made it 2:3 in the final with eleven fielders through Sam Ward (59/Strafecke).
“We knew we had a strong defence, but we played really well as a team at all levels,” Zwecker said. While the Germans left 15 unused penalty kicks at 6:5 in their last group game against France, this time they converted two out of four goals.
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