By ROURKELA: The last time the Australian men’s hockey team took on Germany was in the semifinal of the World Cup which the Germans won 4-3 thanks to a brilliant hat-trick from Gonzalo Peillat and a last-minute goal from Niklas Wellen in what was a thriller of a game.
Sadly, the FIH Pro League game on Saturday between the two teams at Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium here was nowhere close to as exciting as that game but Germany still did just enough to earn a 1-0 victory with Malte Hellwig scoring the only goal of the match from a penalty corner in the eighth minute.
The World Champions, playing their second game in a row, made three changes to the side that lost to India on Friday night.
As for Australia, they had four debutants on their side and three other players who had played less than 10 matches for the senior side before this game. Despite that, they created kept the Germans on their toes and won as many as five penalty corners, including four in the last quarter.
However, they couldn’t convert any of them as Germany goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg was too good on the night. One of Germany’s World Cup heroes, Danneberg made numerous saves, some quite brilliant, especially in the last 15 minutes to help Germany bag the win.
As expected, Danneberg was declared Man of the Match for his efforts and will be more than happy to have a rest day before they face off against India on Monday. Australia, meanwhile, will be facing off against India on Sunday.
Earlier, Germany began the game the way they did against India and dominated possession, and this time they were rewarded with a penalty corner quite early in the game. Although Tom Grambusch failed to score, they won another and this time Hellwig scored from it.
Strangely, the on-field umpire didn’t give the goal at first but the Germans went for a referral which clearly showed the ball had the board inside the net.
After that, it was quite a cagey affair as both teams failed to break down the opposition’s defence and Germany went away with the win.
Sadly, the FIH Pro League game on Saturday between the two teams at Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium here was nowhere close to as exciting as that game but Germany still did just enough to earn a 1-0 victory with Malte Hellwig scoring the only goal of the match from a penalty corner in the eighth minute.
The World Champions, playing their second game in a row, made three changes to the side that lost to India on Friday night.
As for Australia, they had four debutants on their side and three other players who had played less than 10 matches for the senior side before this game. Despite that, they created kept the Germans on their toes and won as many as five penalty corners, including four in the last quarter.
However, they couldn’t convert any of them as Germany goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg was too good on the night. One of Germany’s World Cup heroes, Danneberg made numerous saves, some quite brilliant, especially in the last 15 minutes to help Germany bag the win.
As expected, Danneberg was declared Man of the Match for his efforts and will be more than happy to have a rest day before they face off against India on Monday. Australia, meanwhile, will be facing off against India on Sunday.
Earlier, Germany began the game the way they did against India and dominated possession, and this time they were rewarded with a penalty corner quite early in the game. Although Tom Grambusch failed to score, they won another and this time Hellwig scored from it.
Strangely, the on-field umpire didn’t give the goal at first but the Germans went for a referral which clearly showed the ball had the board inside the net.
After that, it was quite a cagey affair as both teams failed to break down the opposition’s defence and Germany went away with the win.
