Germany beat England to book semis berth in Hockey WC

Bhubaneswar: Germany stormed into semifinals of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 by defeating England in a quarterfinal shootout (4-3) after both the teams were drawn 2-2 in regulation time.
In the semifinals, Germany will face Australia here on 27 January at Kalinga Stadium.
Germany were quicker off the blocks in the first quarter dominating possession and territory in the English half. They created the first big chance of the game as Mats Grambusch’s good work on the left saw Zwicker deflect his pass into the circle, onto the path of Trompertz, but his shot on the reverse sailed high and wide of the goal.
As the time moved forward, England started to find their rhythm and a free hit just outside the circle was played into the circle by Calnan and his pass in was lifted by Rushmere and at the end of his 3d skill move, the ball fell in the air to Zach Wallace and his volleyed effort found the back of the goal to open the scoring for the English.
Germany were measured in their attack in the second quarter, as the threat England possessed on the counterattack was evident. Zach Wallace nearly doubled England’s lead in the 21st minute on one such counter as he beat two defenders at the top of the circle with silky touches, before unleashing a shot, but his shot hit teammate Ansell’s foot before it could reach Stadler in the goal.
Germany won two late penalty corners in the quarter, but their first was a variation that was well read and intercepted by Albery and the second, taken by Peillat, was stopped and kicked out rather easily by the in-form Ollie Payne.
As time started to wind down in the 3rd quarter, things started to get a bit fiery.
Christopher Rühr earned himself a 5-minute suspension for an aggressive tackle in the middle of the field. Germany’s search for a goal to get back into the game was well stuffed out by some terrific defensive work by the likes of Alberry and Waller.
Germany, who had won 7 out of the 9 shootouts over the past 4 years, were perfect in the shootout, scoring all 4 of their attempts.
David Goodfield missed England’s third attempt and Danneberg, who was in the goal instead of Stadler for the shootouts, saved the final English attempt by Ansell to give the Honamas a famous win, and their first semi-final appearance at the World Cup since 2010.
Mats Grambusch was awarded player of the match and said: “My legs are still shaking, that was a great comeback, really proud of the team. We were better in the second half and to come back and draw the game in the final 2 minutes was just incredible.” (UNI)