Hockey Europe is looking to Mönchengladbach, where the best men's and women's teams will be playing for gold, silver and bronze at the European Field Hockey Championships from 18 to 27 August - and with the multi-sport streaming platform SPORT1 Extra, fans are right in the middle of it all. The tournament pass includes all 40 matches of the European Hockey Championship and is offered for 19.99 euros - bookable via https://www.sport1extra.de/en-int/page/hockey. The German men's team, currently world champions and runners-up in the European Championships, is one of the favourites for the tournament, while the German women are both runners-up in the European Championships and fourth in the World Championships and are now hoping for a big coup in front of their home crowd.
Niclas Thiel, Commercial Director of the German Hockey Association, on the partnership with Sport1: "Anyone who followed the Men's Hockey World Cup in India in January knows how nerve-wracking and exciting hockey can also be in front of their home screen. We are delighted to have found a strong partner in the German sports media landscape in SPORT1, which will broadcast the entire tournament live on SPORT1 Extra. In addition, the coverage across SPORT1's various channels will help raise awareness of the European Hockey Championship and our sport."
Annika Rody, Director Media Rights at SPORT1, adds: "We are the place to go for German hockey fans in August and will be showing all 40 live matches on SPORT1 Extra for the home European Championships. With this, we are creating a great stage for the tournament."
German women's team aims for third European Championship title
The German women's national hockey team wants more at the European Championships in their own country, after finishing 2nd at the 2021 European Championships in the Netherlands and 2019 in Belgium. In their group, the "Danas" will face Scotland, England and Ireland. Germany will kick off on Friday, 18 August, live from 19:30 with the match against Scotland. Group A will feature Belgium, Italy, the defending champions from the Netherlands and Spain. The top two teams in each group will advance to the semi-finals. The grand final is scheduled for Saturday, 26 August, live from 14:45. Led by the two captains Nike Lorenz and Sonja Zimmermann, the team of national coach Valentin Altenburg will do their utmost to reach the final, as they did in 2021 and 2019.
After the World Cup triumph in India, can the men's team also shine at the European Championships?
The 2023 European Men's Field Hockey Championship will also be held in front of a home crowd at Hockeypark Mönchengladbach for the first time since 2011. In Group B, Germany will face defending champions the Netherlands, France and Wales. The German men's team will start the tournament on Saturday, 19 August, live from 18:00, with the task against Wales. The men's final, which is already sold out, can be seen live on Sunday, 27 August, from 15:00.
In Group A, Olympic champions Belgium, England, Austria and Spain face each other in the battle for a place in the semi-finals. Most recently, the DHB men of national coach André Henning put in an outstanding performance at the Hockey World Cup in January, where they were able to celebrate the title at the end. Germany won the final match 5:4 (3:3) in a penalty shootout against defending champions Belgium. Goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg saved the decisive penalty. With a total of eight European Championship titles, the men's team of the German Hockey Federation is the record winner. At the last European Championship, the team narrowly missed out on the title. It was only in the penalty shootout that the German team was defeated by the Netherlands 1:4 (2:2). The last time Germany won the European Championship title was in 2013.
