Germany eyes revenge vs England for spot in final
Source: Agencies |
March 11, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
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WORLD and Olympic champion Germany is aiming to make the field hockey World Cup final by avenging a loss to England in last year's European Cup, while Australia faces three-time winner the Netherlands in the other semifinal today in New Delhi, India.
Germany, aiming for a third straight field hockey World Cup title, faces England, which is into its first field World Cup semifinal since losing to Australia at that stage in 1986.
Matthias Witthaus, Moritz Furste and Jan-Marco Montag are the only players from the 2006 champion team left in Germany's squad that went on to win the Olympic title at Beijing in 2008.
But once again, Germany has proved that it can produce a young team capable of carrying on the legacy of past World Cup victories.
"I never had any preference about our semifinal opponent," said German coach Markaus Weise, whose pre-Cup expectation was of reaching the final.
Despite being hit by a series of injuries just ahead of the tournament, England won four straight games to secure entry into the semifinals.
England's impressive show here began with a 3-2 victory over Australia, which was considered among the title favorites after winning the Champions Trophy in a resounding manner three months ago.
During the World Cup, England has lost its main defender Richard Mantell through injury.
Germany's strongest challenger in recent years has been Australia, which clinched its first Olympic Games gold medal at Athens in 2004.
Australia recovered from the loss to England to top Pool B.
Leading the Australian charge are striker Jamie Dwyer, the 2009 world player of the year, who scored the winning goal for Australia in the 2004 Olympic Games final against Netherlands. The support for Dwyer comes from Grant Schubbert and penalty corner specialist Luke Doerner.
"There's hard work to be done. It will be important to hold on to the ball in the semifinal against Australia," Dutch coach Michel van den Heuvel said.
Germany, aiming for a third straight field hockey World Cup title, faces England, which is into its first field World Cup semifinal since losing to Australia at that stage in 1986.
Matthias Witthaus, Moritz Furste and Jan-Marco Montag are the only players from the 2006 champion team left in Germany's squad that went on to win the Olympic title at Beijing in 2008.
But once again, Germany has proved that it can produce a young team capable of carrying on the legacy of past World Cup victories.
"I never had any preference about our semifinal opponent," said German coach Markaus Weise, whose pre-Cup expectation was of reaching the final.
Despite being hit by a series of injuries just ahead of the tournament, England won four straight games to secure entry into the semifinals.
England's impressive show here began with a 3-2 victory over Australia, which was considered among the title favorites after winning the Champions Trophy in a resounding manner three months ago.
During the World Cup, England has lost its main defender Richard Mantell through injury.
Germany's strongest challenger in recent years has been Australia, which clinched its first Olympic Games gold medal at Athens in 2004.
Australia recovered from the loss to England to top Pool B.
Leading the Australian charge are striker Jamie Dwyer, the 2009 world player of the year, who scored the winning goal for Australia in the 2004 Olympic Games final against Netherlands. The support for Dwyer comes from Grant Schubbert and penalty corner specialist Luke Doerner.
"There's hard work to be done. It will be important to hold on to the ball in the semifinal against Australia," Dutch coach Michel van den Heuvel said.
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