After a sleepy first half, the German hockey world champions celebrated a 4:3 (1:3) win against bottom New Zealand at the start of the Pro League tournament in Amsterdam. For the women, on the other hand, the first game against Olympic champions Netherlands was a clear 0:5 (0:3) defeat.
Justus Weigand, Marco Miltkau and Gonzalo Peillat, who scored the winning goal with the first German penalty corner in the 59th minute, scored the goals for the men’s team coached by Andre Hennig.
In the second encounter in Amsterdam on Saturday (5.40 p.m.) the German team meets hosts Netherlands. The men and women meet the Netherlands and New Zealand twice each in Amsterdam.
Only dominant after a tough start
The German selection found it difficult to get into the game against New Zealand, and small mistakes kept disrupting the build-up. “We need access to the game,” said Andre Hennig at half-time. But it was tough at first. The team only woke up after a dream goal by Malte Hellwig in the 37th minute, took control and consequently scored.
Dutch women too fast for German team
After the last two wins in Great Britain, women’s national coach Valentin Altenburg was looking forward to the duels with the Dutch women, who had won nine of their previous ten Pro League games. “They play at a very high tempo and will demand everything from us with their style of play,” said the coach, “that’s exactly what we need to bring our defense to a top level.” This was not the case on Friday, however, as the German defense often looked bad when the Dutch women attacked quickly.