Germany own the world, Netherlands end 3rd

Indervir grewal

Tribune News Service

Bhubaneswar, January 29

Germany managed to achieve what Netherlands could not in 2018 and Australia could not in 2021 — beat Belgium in the shootout of a major final.

For 11 minutes, Germany thought they could do the unthinkable — win in regulation time. But Belgium showed why they were the defending world and Olympics champions by equalising in the 58th minute.

Belgium again showed nerves of steel to come back from a two-goal deficit and push the shootout into sudden death. But Thies Prinz converted again and Tanguy Cosyns could not get past Jean-Paul Danneberg for the second time as the German players rushed to their goalkeeper in ecstasy.

Comeback kings

For the third game in a row, Germany made a slow start and fell 0-2 down. Having conceded in the first quarter against England and Australia, it was not a surprise that they conceded early in the final too. Florent Van Aubel smashed in a bouncing ball in the ninth minute and Cosyns deflected in a low cross a minute later.

There was a feeling that lightning could not strike thrice – unlike England and Australia, Belgium, with all their experience and skill, would not allow Germany back into the game. Was it going to turn into a rout? Germany had other ideas. Even after Vincent Vanasch made a lightning quick stick save to deny Tom Grambusch from the penalty spot, Germany did not lose heart. They kept pushing and Niklas Wellen, Germany’s indefatigable fighter throughout the tournament, gave them hope with an instinctive finish after showing a juggler’s skill in the 28th minute.

Gonzalo Peillat, who with Argentina had defeated Belgium in the 2016 Olympics final, converted a penalty corner in the 40th minute. Seven minutes later, captain Mats Grambusch finished a quick move with a strike from near the baseline.

Even before the goals, the momentum had shifted in the favour of Germany, who were being more adventurous. Belgium, as they had done in the 2018 World Cup and Tokyo Olympics finals, were playing a risk-averse game.

So when they fell behind, it took them almost 10 minutes to wrest the momentum back from Germany. They earned three quick penalty corners. From the third, Tom Boon, who took up the main drag-flicker’s role after the injury to Alexander Hendrickx, equalised, taking Belgium’s third straight major final to the shootout.

Dutch delight

A three-goal burst in the third quarter helped the young Netherlands side upset world No. 1 Australia and earn a well-deserved bronze medal.

Trailing 0-1 after struggling to get any meaningful possession in the first half, an enlivened Netherlands side returned to first loosen Australia’s grip on the game and then score three quick goals to break the Kookaburras’ back.

After drag-flicker Jip Janssen cancelled out Jeremy Hayward’s 12th-minute penalty corner strike in the 32nd minute, captain Thierry Brinkman (34th and 39th minutes) scored two quick goals to stun the Australians.

For the second match in a row, Australia were guilty of letting the momentum slip away. In the face of an aggressive press from Netherlands, they made basic errors, which led to the goals. Even after falling behind, Australia failed to match the intensity of the Dutch.

The Dutch denied Australia from winning their sixth straight medal at the World Cup. In fact, this is only the second time since their first medal in 1978 that Australia have failed to medal at the World Cup. Their last miss came in 1998 when they were beaten by Germany in the bronze medal match.