Germany, the two-fold World Champion at the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup: Part 1
Germany’s both men and women indoor hockey team won the World Cup title on their final day in Poznan at the FIH World Cup on February 13.
It was not less than a historical day for them to become the double champions for the sport. It was a watchful sight when German women defeated the 2007 World Cup Champions, the Netherlands, in an exceptional final match with scores at 4-2. This Indoor
Hockey World Cup title was last held by Germany at the 2003 World Cup held in Leipzig.
Previously, the Ukraine women secured the third position after winning bronze against Belarus the same day.
Among women, Germany's Barbara Vogel was given the 'Goal-keeper of the Tournament' title that was followed by the Top Scorer (11 goals) award and 'Player of the Tournament' both given to the Netherlands Captain Belle Van Meer. Another award of the
Best Under-21 player was given to Poland’s Paulina Okaj.
Both the Women World cup finalist made it to the finals with a record of being undefeated through the pool matches. The match was opened by Netherland’s Kiki Collot d’ Escury’s hit on the German goal. Soon, a penalty-corner was also awarded to them,
but it was well defended by the German team. Dinah Gronde worked hard in outplaying Adinda Boeren in the Dutch goal and managed to get a chance in her second attempt to score a goal.
Later, Stephanie Frenz made a quick hit for a score and goaled a lead for Germany. The first half was quite much under the German hand that ended by a short one-goal lead over the Netherlands.
The second half was a power-pack performed by the German players when team captain f***y Rennie won a score at the penalty corner. With 15 minutes left on the clock, the bold captain struck a hit yet again to give a three-goal lead to her German team.
Such an offence from Germany was strongly countered by the opposition by dominating the rest of the time in the field. Barbara Vogel well-saved a German Merel De Blaeij’s penalty stroke attempt.
With ten minutes left for the match, the Dutch women decided to replace the goal-keeper for an extra field player. Resultantly, Kiki Collot scored her second goal, reducing the score gap to 2 goals. However, the time was out and Germany won the title,
leaving the Dutch at a 2-4 goal score defeat.
German Coach Kais Al Saadi stated "We tried to press The Netherlands very hard from the start to try to stop them playing. It worked very well for us and I am delighted."
Jost Van Geel, Coach of The Netherlands could not hide his disappointment but congratulated the German team for winning the title. He commented that Barbara Vogel had done a brilliant job for Germany in the field. He said that the Netherlands had their
chances, but did not make it to a win. The team had tried hard to overpower Germany, which showed their strength to defend the title well.
On the other hand, the male German counterparts were equally competent in the 2011 World Cup, who concluded the event with a 3-2 win against Poland in the finals, declaring their third consecutive win for the title.
Article continued in Part 2 of Germany, the two-fold World Champion at the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup
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