With the fourth win in a row, the DEB selection has reached the World Cup quarterfinals. Archrival Switzerland is now waiting.
The German national ice hockey players had just bought their ticket for the quarter-finals of the World Cup when Marcel Noebels wanted to get back on the ice immediately. Against arch-rival Switzerland, who is again waiting in the knockout stages – and of which not only the Berliner has good memories. “I’d love to go out there again,” said the 31-year-old after the 5-0 (2-0, 1-0, 2-0) victory over France in the last group game, “it’s always awesome, fire and flames – it’s getting hot.”
And it is a success story of the German national team: Whenever something was at stake in the past few years, the Swiss failed. No matter how strong they had previously played. This was also the case two years ago in Riga, when Noebels and Co. made it into the World Cup semi-finals with a dramatic 3-2 win – with the polar bear striker as the penalty hero. “I’m taking nice moments from the past with me,” said Noebels, “but the boys are in the mood for a new story.”
Again in the quarter-finals on Thursday in Riga, the Swiss are the favorites after a great preliminary round, but they remember that they lost the last three knockout games against Germany. “The Swiss aren’t happy that the German is back in front of them,” said Noebels.
The mood in the team of national coach Harold Kreis is completely different. After a difficult start to the tournament, the young team has gained a lot of self-confidence with four wins in a row – and a lot of momentum for the duel with the old rivals. “I play for being there in moments like this,” said Noebels.
In the last group game, France felt that the German team had grown into a strong unit despite numerous failures. Düsseldorf’s Alexander Ehl (4th) and Daniel Fischbuch (44th), Munich’s Frederik Tiffels (16th) and Maximilian Kastner (54th) and NHL striker John-Jason Peterka (23rd) shot in front of 8598 spectators in the Nokia Arena in Tampere pulled out an unchallenged victory that made their sixth World Cup quarter-final appearance in seven years perfect.
Particularly important: Goalkeeper Mathias Niederberger did not concede a goal in a World Cup game for the first time. “Everyone wanted to keep a clean sheet for him, but also for the team,” said Kreis. The new head coach drew a positive conclusion from his first World Cup preliminary round, which had started with three defeats against the favorites Sweden, Finland and the USA: “The pressure hasn’t let up, but the self-confidence has grown. The character really distinguishes this team.”
Niederberger himself, who saved 13 shots, was also completely satisfied. “We did really well,” said the Munich player, “every game, even if it was a defeat at the beginning, showed us how good we are. The team is top class.”
With the World Cup quarterfinals, the district team has only reached a first milestone. Against Switzerland, which the local press is already celebrating as a “white ballet”, on Thursday it’s not just about jumping into the top four, but also about the ticket to the 2026 Olympics. To prepare for the winter games in Milan / Cortina to qualify directly, the DEB selection would have to overtake the Swiss or Slovakia in the world rankings. With a win on Thursday, this goal would definitely have been achieved.