World Cup: Germany into the Crossovers

The wave express keeps rolling: Germany clearly wins against South Korea

Germany clearly wins the last group game at the Hockey World Cup in India. In the long-distance duel with Belgium for group victory, Germany should have won by nine goals to be sure of finishing first in the group. In the end, Germany wins 7-2. Goal scorers were Niklas Wellen (3x), Gonzalo Peillat, Mats Grambusch, Justus Weigand and Moritz Ludwig. Germany is now playing in the crossover game against France (Monday, January 23rd, 12:00 p.m.) for a place in the quarter-finals.

The German goal scorers:
1:0, 2:1 and 3:1 Niklas Wellen, 1st, 16th, 40th minute
4:1 Gonzalo Peillat, 42nd minute, PC
5:1 Justus Weigand, 50th minute
6:1 Mats Grambusch, 52nd minute
7:1 Moritz Ludwig, 52nd minute

Scored for South Korea
: 1-1 Jonghyun Jang, 14th minute, PC
2-7 Jonghyun Jang, 60th minute, PC

Early 1-0 for Germany, later equalization 
The game started the way Germany imagined it would. High and aggressive pressing caused problems for the Koreans. After almost two minutes, Germany made it 1-0 – Niklas Wellen scored for an early lead after a strong finish. After a good circle entry by captain Mats Grambusch, Germany received the first penalty corner in the 8th minute: Gonzalo Peillat’s corner was cleared on the line in dire need. As a result, Germany dominated the events without necessarily becoming dangerous. Two more penalty corners from Germany could be defended by the Koreans. After a long, precise shot over 60 meters, 22 seconds before the end of the first quarter, South Korea took the first penalty corner and made it 1-1, Jonghyun Jang was the scorer. With the 1:1 we went into the next quarter. 

Hinrichs on Wellen, early lead again
After a strong pass from Teo Hinrichs, Niklas Wellen scored his third goal of the tournament and made it 2-1 for Germany. After almost 29 minutes, Christopher Ruhr shot just wide of the goal to the left after entering the circle. South Korea continued to defend very deep and Germany tried to open up the gaps by moving sideways quickly. Five minutes before half-time, Alexander Stadler was able to stand out after a penalty corner by South Korea and safely saved the shot. Germany was the better team in the first half and controlled the action. Nevertheless, due to many missed opportunities, “only” a 2:1 was on the scoreboard. 

waves to the third 
No early goal for Germany this time. After a long flick ball from Tom Grambusch to Niklas Wellen, he put it across to Mats Grambusch and the captain shot just wide of the goal on the left because he was blocked decisively at the last second. In the 35th minute, Teo Hinrichs had to make a save just before the line for the defeated Alexander Stadler. In the 41st minute the time had come and Germany scored the first goal of the quarter. Goal scorer was Niklas Wellen for the third time. After 43 minutes, Germany and Gonzalo Peillat were redeemed: On the sixth try, Peillat scored with a strong finish after a penalty corner to make it 4:1. Shortly thereafter, Marco Miltkau was free-standing in front of the Korean goalkeeper and just missed the goal. With this 4:1 lead we went into the last quarter. 

Goals, goals, goals…
Germany played the ball well against the Koreans, who were still deep. After strong 3D hockey by Mats Grambusch, Gonzalo Peillat pushed on goal and in the end Justus Weigand was the scorer to make it 5:1 for Germany. Immediately afterwards the next goal: Captain Mats Grambusch increased to 6:1. The knot seemed to have burst: Moritz Ludwig scored shortly afterwards to make it 7:1. With three minutes to go, Wellen failed to take the shot from the Korean goalkeeper after a great pass from Weigand. Several time penalties for Oruz and Hinrichs caused the flow of the game to be disrupted somewhat. In the end, André Henning took out the goalkeeper: Germany really wanted to win clearly in order to finish first in the group. In the last minute, Germany conceded the 2:7 after a penalty corner. 
In the end, Germany celebrates a clear victory and will go into the crossover game against France with a lot of self-confidence.  

Comments on the game:

André Henning: “We had to be patient today to break through the extremely defensive Koreans. In the second half it was a good mix of great individual performances, well-played attacks and a stable defense that led us to the big win.

Moritz Ludwig: “In the beginning the ball didn’t go as we had imagined and maybe we wanted to force it too much. Then we let the ball run more and more. Goals were added as the game progressed. In the last eight minutes we realized that winning the group was still possible and we pushed everything forward. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough in the end and two goals were missing. That’s a bit bitter. But we are now thinking directly about the next game against France and then hope to make it to the quarter-finals.” 
 

These players were used for Germany: