Four German hockey greats were said goodbye in front of a large audience on the final days of the European Indoor Hockey Championships in Hamburg. The tournament was advertising for the sport – although only the DHB women celebrated the hoped-for triumph.
Once again it was proven how brutal the sport can be. While Janne Müller-Wieland, Lisa Altenburg and Franzisca Hauke were able to celebrate the gold medal at the end of their careers in a Hamburg cult karaoke bar with their team, Tobias Hauke said goodbye to the international stage in front of his home audience without a title.
Müller-Wieland: “Farewell, as it is in the book”
It was the EM of big farewells. With Müller-Wieland, Altenburg and the two Hauke siblings, four players said goodbye who together have more than 1,000 international matches under their belt. With a triumph, the Hamburgers wanted to abdicate in front of their home crowd – but only the women’s trio succeeded.
“It’s a farewell, as it is in the book,” said Müller-Wieland. One can only hope for such a thing. “The hall was full. It didn’t matter whether I knew the people or not, they were all our friends. That was very special.” Tobias Hauke was visibly devastated, but was able to gain something good from the tournament despite losing the final: “I have experienced this trip, the last two weeks, with extreme awareness,” said the 35-year-old. He expected a great atmosphere, “but it just got really emotional”.
Women sovereign – men stumble through the tournament
It was no surprise that both German teams were in the finals. While the experienced women’s team reached the final without losing any points and was rewarded with gold against the Dutch women (5:4), the men stumbled a few times on their way there and ultimately missed the European Championship victory with a 1:2 against Austria.
One reason was the fact that the A squad is preparing for the forthcoming field world championships in India in January and the indoor team, with the exception of Hauke, consisted almost entirely of prospective players. Both teams had only a few weeks to prepare for the tournament due to the subordinate role of indoor hockey in the international arena. Another advantage for the women who have known each other for a long time in this constellation.
DHB men: Best performance in the final
Because this sovereignty and experience, with which the women always remained calm and twice made up for a deficit in the games against the Dutch women, was missing in the men’s team of coach Rein van Eijk against the clever Austrians.
“There was a strong development in the men’s tournament.”
— DHB sports director Martin Schultze
“We improved from game to game,” summed up the U21 coach, who stood in for national coach Andre Henning in the hall. His team had developed well throughout the tournament, culminating in the strongest game in the final. Nonetheless, performance throughout the tournament seemed inconsistent and disjointed at many stages. “If you don’t take the chances, it will still be difficult to win. The Austrians were extremely efficient today, that’s bitter,” said van Eijk.
Three DHB women awarded
“Complete satisfaction” felt the women’s national coach Valentin Altenburg: “We have achieved all three goals that we have set ourselves. We wanted to become European champions. We wanted to get children and young people excited about hockey with the way we play . And we wanted to enjoy this week as a team.”
The outstanding performance of the German team was underscored by three awards: Lisa Altenburg was the top scorer with 14 goals, Nathalie Kubalski was named the best goalkeeper and Pia Maertens the best player of the tournament.
Final days in front of a full hall
On the women’s final day, 3,550 spectators watched the final followed by Germany celebrating gold against their arch-rivals from the Netherlands. An absolute highlight for the players, hockey players rarely have the opportunity to play in front of such a backdrop. With 3,400 spectators on Sunday, there were hardly any fewer people who celebrated Tobias Hauke’s last performance and tried to comfort the German men with thunderous applause after the bitter defeat in the final.
During the week, the organizers had invited school classes and youth teams to fill the ranks at the games during the day. An idea to inspire young hockey players and, above all, to attract newcomers to the sport.
Ukrainian women celebrated for minutes for bronze
The Ukrainians provided another emotional story of this European Championship. The team had been preparing for the European Championships in Hamburg for three weeks, far away from the war. When it was rewarded with bronze in the game for third place against the Austrians, the hall shook. Tears ran down the cheeks of the players and the audience applauded the team for minutes with standing ovations.
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Hamburg Journal | 11.12.2022 | 19:30 o’clock
