After the bitter defeat against Olympic champions Netherlands, the German hockey women showed a significant increase in performance at the Pro-League station in Amsterdam. The team of national coach Valentin Altenburg beat New Zealand 3-1 (1-0) on Sunday. Two days earlier, the selection of the German Hockey Association (DHB) against the Dutch archrival (0: 5) had had no chance.
“We wanted to improve a lot of things,” said defender Kira Horn after the victory at DAZN: “Today we did a lot better and fought more as a team.”
Against the penultimate table New Zealand it had taken less than two minutes before Hanna Granitzki brought the DHB women in front. This was preceded by an opposing error in the build-up game. As a result, the European runners-up dominated the game without creating any more compelling scoring chances.
“Especially after winning the ball, we can be even faster,” said national coach Altenburg during the half-time break – but shortly after the restart, the New Zealanders took advantage of their first good opportunity thanks to Hannah Cotter (34th). The “Danas” hit back, first with a penalty corner by Sonja Zimmermann (40th), before Lena Micheel (50th) got the final score.
During the stay in Amsterdam, the German women will play a total of four games, as with the DHB men, it will be twice against the Netherlands and New Zealand. Before the European Championships at home in Mönchengladbach (19th to 27th August), another station in the Pro League awaits in Antwerp.