New Delhi: The Netherlands are the second team to qualify for the semi-finals of the Hero Hockey World League Final in New Delhi. The Dutch walked away with a narrow 2-1 win over Germany in Wednesday’s second quarter final.

The Netherlands started the game in dominant style winning an immediate penalty corner, which was flicked home by Mink van der Weerden in the first minute. The Olympic silver medallists put pressure on the Olympic champions and this resulted in their second goal a few minutes later. Seve van Ass (6’) got the final touch to double Oranje’s lead.

Germany struggled to come back into the match especially as the Dutch side kept up the pressure. The Netherlands came close to extending their lead to 3-0 but they failed to capitalize on their third penalty corner. Eventually, the world ranked no 1 Germany began to win more possession but couldn’t find a way past Jaap Stockmann in the Dutch goal.

The second half saw Germany playing with more intensity; it took them less than three minutes to get on the scoreboard. Florian Fuchs kept possession in the circle and linked well with team-captain Oliver Korn who tipped the ball into the goal.

The game was really end to end with the European champions taking hold of the game towards the final whistle. Such was the shape of the game that most of the action took place in the centre of the pitch with quick turn-overs making the match very entertaining.


Speaking on the win Netherlands Coach, Paul Van Ass said “It’s always tough playing against Germany, we had lost our match against them in the Olympics. We were looking at winning against them today and it feels good, that this time we beat them. While we are happy with the performance today, it would have been more satisfactory if we could have scored one more goal”
 

Disappointed by the team’s performance, Germany coach Markus Weise said “Not satisfied with the way the boys played in the first half though they did come back good during the second half of the match. We got many chances but we missed on every opportunity. We could not convert the penalty corners even today and was unhappy with the defense. The team has a few inexperienced players which in a way cost us the match today.”