Goals from Constantin Staib, Niklas Wellen and Timm Herzbruch were enough for Germany to secure all three points against Spain, earning a 3-1 home win over the Red Sticks to move into the top four as the race to qualify for the FIH Pro League Grand Final continued.
The victory in Krefeld has resulted in Die Honamas climbing up to fourth in the FIH Pro League standings, level on points with third-placed Netherlands but with a lower win percentage due to having played more matches. A top four finish in the FIH Pro League comes with tickets to this month's FIH Pro League Grand Final in Amsterdam and also the FIH Olympic qualifiers, which take place later this year. Spain join New Zealand as teams that can no longer qualify for the Grand Final, with six teams - Australia, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Argentina and Great Britain - still in the hunt for the four berths. To see the current men’s FIH Pro League standings, click here.
Sitting seventh in the FIH Pro League standings, Spain (FIH World Ranking: 9) came into their clash with Germany (WR:6) knowing that they had to avoid defeat, and preferably win, if they were to keep alive any mathematical hope of reaching the FIH Pro League Grand Final. The Red Sticks had ever reason to feel confident that they could get a positive result at Crefelder Hockey und Tennis Club, having beaten Germany in a shoot-out after the two sides had contested a thrilling 4-4 draw in the reverse fixture in Valencia earlier this year.
Germany were in charge for the vast majority of the first two quarters, deservedly taking the lead when Constantin Staib finished off a pass from the excellent Florian Fuchs before Spain levelled thanks to a terrific penalty corner drag-flick from Josep Romeu, arrowing his effort just inside the left post. Die Honamas took the score to 2-1 on the stroke of quarter time when Benedikt Fürk touched Tom Grambusch’s defence-splitting pass onto both posts before Niklas Wellen - who plays his club hockey at Crefelder - tapped into an unguarded goal.
Although veteran Spain striker Pau Quemada forced a good save from Germany goalkeeper Victor Aly early in the second period, the home side applied relentless pressure throughout the quarter and were unfortunate not to add to their goals tally.
Spain gave an excellent showing after half time and came close to levelling through a beautifully executed penalty corner routine, only for shot-stopper Aly to make a superb stick save by diving to his right to tip Alvaro Iglesias’ shot around the post.
The Red Sticks replaced goalkeeper Quico Cortes with an outfield player in the final minutes, but their attempt to salvage something from the game backfired when Timm Herzbruch passed into an empty net to score his fourth goal in as many games to give Germany all three points.
Referencing the fact that Germany coach Stefan Kermas had asked for his team to show more energy and fight on the field than in yesterday's draw against New Zealand, Player of the Match Niklas Wellen said: “I think we did exactly what we intended to do today. We talked a lot about the energy level, because yesterday we were not satisfied with that. But I think we did a great job. We really were working hard in the defensive tackles and making our way back, so I think we can be happy with that performance today.”
The race for that all-important top four finish in the FIH Pro League continues with three matches on Wednesday 12 June, with Germany’s women and men taking on Belgium in Krefeld while the Netherlands women entertain New Zealand in s-Hertogenbosch. To see the complete match schedule, click here.
Keep up to date with all the latest news on the FIH Pro League via the event website and through FIH social media channels - Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
FIH Pro League - 9 June 2019
Crefelder Hockey und Tennis Club, Krefeld (GER)
Result: Men’s Match 44
Germany 3, Spain 1
Player of the Match: Niklas Wellen (GER)
Umpires: Raghu Prasad (IND), Jonas van ‘’t Hek (NED) and Ayanna McClean (TTO - video)
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