Twelve years of waiting are over, the permanent rival is finally beaten: the German hockey men have crowned themselves as European champion on home soil.
In the final thriller of Mönchengladbach, the world champion again demonstrated his comeback qualities and won 4-1 against the Netherlands in the shootout, after 60 minutes it was 1-1 (0: 1).
A year after the bitter finals from Paris, the selection of the German Hockey Federation (DHB) triumphed again in a final against the neighbor.
Only in the last quarter did Justus Weigand make up for the acclaimed compensation (46th), in penalty shooting the team of national coach André Henning then kept their nerve. Thies Prince scored the decisive goal.
First EM title since 2013
For the first time since 2013, the “Honamas” cheered an EM title again. With the ninth triumph in total, the record winners also keep the big rivals on a distance (seven titles), the goal by Tijmen Reyenga (26th) was not enough for the Netherlands. Bronze secured Spain after a 2-0 against France.
“Incredible, in this stadium here, all the spectators, the language stays away,” said the outstanding goalkeeper Jean Danneberg in “Magenta Sport”: “We fought so much, developed so much, and we always believed in the dream of becoming a European champion here is breathtaking.”
Revanche for lost Olympic final
At least the small revenge against Oranje has finally been successful: In the 2024 Olympicinal finale, the Netherlands still kept the upper hand in a heated duel, and even with the EMS 2021 and 2015, it had set final bankruptcies for the German selection.
Also for Captain Mats Grambusch, the title in his hometown closes a circle: he was the only player in the squad to crown himself as a European champion at his tournament premiere in 2013, in his farewell game for the DHB he is now at the top again.
The early Saturday evening it went on and next to the field, the audience immediately converted the sold -out hockey park into a real witch boiler. Henning had asked for a “hell”, which he got twice: the fan camps cheerfully dueled, with which events on the blue artificial turf also changed the sides.
There were only goals at first, Danneberg clarified with the final whistle of the first quarter spectacularly with the racket – there was even a handshake from the opponent for the parade. The outstanding German keeper could not do anything on the lead goal after the penalty corner. As a result, it remained exciting, Weigand was a bit surprising.