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In today's other encounters, England defeated Belgium by Golden Goal to claim Bronze, and in the 5-8 bracket, Ireland wrestled down Spain to take 5th, and Russia overwhelmed France for 7th place. Individual awards went to Taeke Taekema of the Netherlands as the event's topscorer, and Mo Fürste of Germany as Most Valuable Player.
The men's GANT EuroHockey Championship final between Germany and the Netherlands was a fitting end to a great tournament: skillful, exciting, a fantastic showcase for the sport. In a sold out 10.000 seater stadium full of enthusiastic supporters of the two best European teams, tension was high from the starting whistle, and there was barely a minute on the clock when Philipp Zeller tipped in a ball across from Mo Fürste.
Shocked into action, the Dutch attacked to pull even, and a fast and even game developed. With extraordinary skills on both sides, both teams had a number of opportunities, and the Netherlands were more effective, pulling level through Roderick Weusthof who beat German goalkeeper Max Weinhold with a superb reverse stick shot. The game went into frantic end-to-end play, with no advantages on either side, and stayed even until the 32nd minute, when a penalty corner for Germany yielded a penalty stroke that Mo Fürste converted without hesitation to give Germany the 2-1 halftime lead.
In the second half, both sides tried to control play better, but Florian Fuchs managed to get Germany ahead again with a great finishing touch to a ball from Thilo Stralkowski for the 3-1. The Netherlands were trying hard to make up some ground, but the German defense stood firm, and there was no passing their ranks, until the Dutch succeeded in winning a penalty corner, which the ever reliable Taeke Taekema converted with another cracking flick. At 2-3 only one goal behind again, the Dutch stepped their game up and attacked relentlessly, but could not beat the wall of the German defense. The Germans were still able to also create danger on fast breaks, and in the 68th minute, Oli Korn deflected a pass across into the goal for the 4-2 lead, and effectively, the victory for Germany. With the final whistle, the new European Champions were crowned: Germany men won their first European title since 2003.
The bronze medal game, played prior to the final, had already enjoyed a great atmosphere, with the stands filling up nicely and vocal groups of fans supporting both the Belgian and English sides. England came out blazing, and had early chances, one of which penalty corner specialist Richard Mantell used wisely to get England ahead. A fast-paced, high-energy game developed, with some great demonstrations of skill and the ball going back and forth between the two teams. Both sides looked dangerous, and there was no possibility to predict who would score next. Neither managed during the remainder of the first half, so they went into the changing rooms with England 1-0 up.
The second half continued much in the same vein, until Belgium managed to pull level ten minutes after the re-start when Alexandre de Paeuw pushed the ball past goalkeeper James Fair on a short corner. The English challenged the goal call, referring to the video umpire, but to no avail, the decision stood. With the scores level, both teams pushed for a decider, but neither managed. As the minutes ticked down, Belgium were the more active and more aggressive team, but couldn't score, and the 70 minutes ended. In extra time, England started off much more on the offense, pushing the game into the Belgian half and pressuring the circle constantly. Five minutes into the additional 2x7,5 minutes, a circle penetration of the English saw the ball disappear into a goalmouth scramble, and when the ball emerged, it rolled in front of James Tindall's feet, who wasted no time to hammer it over the line for the golden goal - bronze for England, 4th place for Belgium.
Previously, in the final two men's relegation pool matches, the teams had been playing for placement directly, as it had already been decided on Friday that the teams in the first match, France and Russia, would be relegated to Europe's second eight for 2013. The teams destined for the B division were also the first to take to the pitch today, for an early 8.30 start that saw a blitz start from the Russians with Dmitry Volkov and veteran Aleksandr Platonov scoring in the 5th and 6th minute respectively. The French were not fully awake, it seemed, but already behind, and it took them a while to adjust and get their feet on the ground, but they managed to pull level through goals from Lucas Sevestre and Jean-Baptiste Pauchet. A lively game developed, with opportunties at both ends, but the teams went into halftime at 2 goals each, but after the break, Russia caught a listless and tired French team off guard in the initial minutes again, scoring three goals in the first ten minutes to decide the match. France played with more energy after the 5-2 was established, but it wasn't enough to change the scoreline. Russia thus finishes 7th and France 8th in the 2011 EuroHockey Championship.
The second match of the day pitted Spain against Ireland for 5th place, with Spain needing to win, while Ireland only needed a draw to claim 5th rank. In a hard fought but lacklustre encounter without significant advantages on either side, Spain had more early chances, but struggled to convert until Pau Quemada sank a penalty corner flick in the 28th minute. It seemed like the mounting Spanish pressure would soon see them extend their lead, but unexpectedly, a penalty corner off a counter-attack gave the Irish the equalizer when Eugene Magee set a low flick right into the corner of the goal for the 1-1 half time score.
When the teams came back onto the field, Spain were still the slightly better team, and tried to control play, but Ireland today proved a fiercely determined and difficult opponent. A penalty corner converted by captain Santi Freixa got Spain ahead again, but Ireland were on the rise, creating more danger, and after a few opportunties, a penalty corner that they had forced by a video umpire decision finally gave the green shirts another equalizer through Timmy Cockram. The game was now firmly in Ireland's hand, and they went all out for the winning goal, especially after two cards for Spain in the 67th minute had them playing 11 on 9. The elusive winner finally came in the 70th minute, in the form of another penalty corner used wisely by Timmy Cockram for his second of the day. Ireland thus finished 5th, their best result in a men's European Nations tournament since Dublin 1995, while Spain ended up 6th, their worst finish since Dublin 1995.
For more information on this event, please visit the EHF website www.eurohockey.org.
The EuroHockey Championships in Mönchengladbach, which started last Saturday and ended today, have confirmed 5 more participants in the 2012 Olympic hockey tournament in addition to the already qualified Great Britain men and women, Pakistan men and China and Korea women: the men of Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium have secured their ticket to London, as well as the women of Germany and the Netherlands.
Men
Final Ranking
1. Germany (European Champions)
2. Netherlands
3. England
4. Belgium
5. France
6. Spain
7. Russia (Relegation for 2013)
8. France (Relegation for 2013)
Dutch women win a record 8th European title
Netherlands defeat Germany 3-0 in GANT EuroHockey Championship final
On the final day of the women's GANT EuroHockey Championship 2011, the Netherlands won the final against Germany, England defeated Spain for Bronze, and Belgium and Ireland logged wins to send Azerbaijan and Italy in Europe's second division for 2013. Kim Lammers of the Dutch team won the topscorer award, while German superstar Natascha Keller was elected Most Valuable Player.
The grand final of the tournament started with brilliant sunshine and a well filled stadium, with equal parts of the crowd supporting record and current title holder the Netherlands and the German hosts. The Dutch imposed themselves early, taking control of the game and scoring their first after 8 minutes when Marilyn Agliotti deflected a penalty corner flick into the net with a mid air swing. In a lively game, the ball went back and forth but the Dutch looked more dangerous than the Germans who struggled to find their way past Oranje's defenders. Ten minutes later, Ellen Hoog extended the lead to two goals with a fierce reverse stick shot from the top of the circle. During the remaining ten minutes in the first half, both sides had their opportunities, including short corners at both ends, but neither side could find the goal, and they went into halftime with a two goal advantage for the Netherlands.
The Dutch remained the dominating team in the second half, despite a solid performance from and some good opportunities for the German side. Yvonne Frank in the German goal put forward some great saves to ward off more Dutch goals, but she eventually could not avoid Lidewij Welten scoring a third goal for Oranje from a penalty corner rebound in the dying minutes of the match, and with dark clouds having moved in fast again, with less than 2 minutes on the clock, the skies opened up and the girls in orange danced in torrential rain and hail to celebrate another, entirely deserved European Champion title.
Prior to that the tournament's final encounter, England and Spain had played for bronze. Both teams went into the match focused and determined, and standing well in defense in the first half, they cancelled each other out and there were few opportunties on either side. England stepped their game up towards the end of the first 35 minutes and gained slight advantages, but they still could not make it onto the scoreboard.
After the break, the trend continued, England were the stronger side, but still, they could not make it count - on the contrary, a penalty corner for Spain saw the Iberians surge ahead when Silvia Muñoz tipped the rebound over the line from the goalmouth scramble. The goal shocked the English into action, and barely three minutes later, Helen Richardson scored her first to equalize. England continued to dominate the match, but it took them until the 68th minute to make the bronze entirely theirs with a reverse stick effort from Helen Richardson that became her and England's second goal.
Still earlier in the day, Ireland and Italy had disputed the first of the two remaining relegation pool encounters. Italy started unexpectedly well into the match, and put their opponents under some early pressure but it was Emma Clarke of the Irish team who scored against the run of play. Within the next three minutes, Nicky Symmons added the green shirts' second with a deflection goal, and Aine Connery piled on yet another from close range. The Irish held a tight grip on the proceedings for the remaining fifteen minutes until halftime, but after the break, Italy again started out well, which yielded a reverse stick goal by Alessia Padalino. Rattled by the goal, the Irish tightened the reins again and steered the match safely towards the finish line, with Shirley McCay adding a fourth goal with two minutes to go, making Ireland safe while sending Italy into relegation.
In the other relegation pool match, Belgium took on Azerbaijan, and the hosts of the next European Championships in 2013 took charge early, when team captain Charlotte de Vos used a moment of confusion in the Azeri defense to push the ball over the line. Following the goal, the Azeri team reared up, and attacked to pull even, but they could not find the goal and ended up having to take another blow, when Barbara Nelen completed a counter-attack with the Belgians' second goal. Further attacking from Azerbaijan remained uneffective, often cut short by the sturdy Belgian defense, and with the frustration growing, a mistake yielded a penalty stroke for Belgium which Jill Boon converted without hestation for the 3-0. A penalty corner in the last minute of the match yielded a consolation goal for Azerbaijan through Hyesook Shukurzade, but it was not enough to prevent relegation.
For more information on this event, please visit the EHF website www.eurohockey.org.
The EuroHockey Championships in Mönchengladbach, which end tomorrow, have confirmed 5 more participants in the 2012 Olympic hockey tournament in addition to the already qualified Great Britain men and women, Pakistan men and China and Korea women: the men of Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium have secured their ticket to London, as well as the women of Germany and the Netherlands.
Women
Final Ranking
1. Netherlands (European Champions)
2. Germany
3. England
4. Spain
5. Belgium
6. Ireland
7. Azerbaijan (Relegation for 2013)
8. Italy (Relegation for 2013)
These articles originally published at International Hockey Federation http://FIH.ch