New Delhi: Exciting quarter-final between two giants of the game. Australia had finished with maximum points in Pool B, while Germany suffered a defeat at the hands of Belgium on opening day.

After a tactical round of observation, Australia drew first blood when Tyler Cowley pounced on a ball mishandled by the German defense and took his time to find William Gilmour unmarked in the middle of the circle. Germany quickly regained their composure and Christopher Rühr put the teams back on par with a low penalty-corner in the 21st minute.

Germany had more opportunities at the end of the period, but the break was reached on a 1-1 tie. Play remained locked in midfield for the first twenty minutes of second period, with few real chances at either end. Dieter-Enrique Linnekogel broke the deadlock in the 55th minute when he received the ball in the circle with his back to the goal, faked to go one way but turned the other and blasted the ball in the ceiling of the net.

The German celebration was however short-lived as Dylan Wotherspoon scored on the next action for the Kookaburras to level the score. The floodgates were now opened and Germany regained the lead in the next minute by Mats Grambusch, the third goal in so many minutes!
Australia pulled their goalkeeper with 5 minutes to go to try and come back in contention, but it immediately backfired as their defense lost the ball and Niklas Wellen did not miss the chance to give his team a more comfortable 2-goal cushion. Dylan Wotherspoon scored his second goal of the evening to close the gap to one unit, but Germany used all the extent of their experience and technical skills to control the end of the match, setting up an explosive semi-final date with the Netherlands, a remake of the 2009 Junior World Cup final.

Andre Henning, coach of the German team said, “Australia as a team is very good and aggressive. One cannot be afraid and play against them but our boys played very well. To play under this type of pressure is a good experience for the boys. All the matches we have played so far have been very competitive and every match has been a do or die situation for us. Our next match is with Netherlands who are a strong team and the game can go on either side. The chances of winning remain fifty fifty for both teams.