After the dramatic final victory over Belgium, Germany’s hockey men are world champions for the third time. The title was not to be expected before the tournament. The triumph in India is a sensation. The highlights are in the video from minute 0:50.
A single image. Not more. Mats Grambusch, captain of the German national hockey team, and his brother Tom published it on their joint Instagram account last night.
You can see the World Cup trophy on the floor of the German dressing room in the midst of numerous puddles of drinks. Germany is hockey world champion again. After 17 long years. That’s how long ago the last World Cup triumph was.
Germany’s hockey men have been waiting for a big title since 2014
German hockey aggressively advertises that it is the most successful team sport in the country. However, there has recently been a gap between aspiration and reality. Since winning the Champions Trophy nine years ago it was no longer enough for Germany’s hockey men to win a major tournament.
“But we were not unsuccessful during this time”Mats Grambusch clarifies. “The comparison with the extremely successful decade was a bit annoying.” Again and again, Grambusch and his teammates had to put up with the accusation of not playing as successfully as German teams did after the turn of the millennium.
Nations like Belgium passed with centralized systems
Because between 2002 and 2014, German hockey was actually at the top internationally. Collector of medals in all major tournaments, most notably the Olympic Games. After a long dry spell, Germany is back at the top. Ironically, after the World Cup final victory over defending champions Belgium. Mats Grambusch initially only uttered one word: “Insanity.”
In fact, a victory for the German men at the World Cup tournament in India was not really to be expected. Because the long time without a title had reasons. Above all, that the competition had passed. In recent years, Australia, the Netherlands and especially Olympic champions Belgium have dominated international men’s hockey.
Belgium professionalized its structures years ago, and since then the country’s best national players have been training together centrally on around 200 days a year. In Germany, the national players mostly train for themselves at their home clubs and are only about half as often on the pitch together as the Belgians or Dutch.
German hockey relies on soft factors
“We go a different way and are extremely dependent on the self-motivation of our players”, explains national coach André Henning. But Henning also tried to consciously turn the obvious sporting disadvantage into an advantage: “I think we’ve managed to show our players that they enjoy a lot of freedom that national players from other nations don’t have.”
Knowing this, the German players would do their homework more conscientiously, says Henning. In addition, the national coach has changed the leadership culture in the team since he took office a little over a year ago.
Established leading players such as former captain Tobias Hauke or Martin Häner recently ended their careers. André Henning reorganized the team structure and built on flat hierarchies and a sense of togetherness: “Especially on a personal level, we found each other extremely well in the short time available. There are many friendships in our team and from that we draw strength and resilience on the pitch.”
Goal scorer Niklas Wellen becomes a player in the World Cup tournament
That was exactly what was seen again and again at this World Cup tournament. The German team caught up a two-goal deficit in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finally also in the final. Striker Niklas Wellen, who had become a father during the course of the tournament, advanced to become the outstanding player in a close and strong team. He was voted player of the tournament, and he deserved it.
28-year-old Wellen is returning today with the gold medal around his neck to meet his son in Krefeld. “The last few weeks have been the most exciting of my life”, he said. He and his teammates brought German hockey back to the top of the world. And the next highlight is just around the corner.
The European Championships will take place in Mönchengladbach in August. Then Germany’s most successful Olympic team sport will once again be among the favorites for the title after a long time.