“It will be a tricky encounter,” says Germany’s long-serving striker Florian Fuchs as he prepares for a return to FIH Hockey Pro League action on 6 and 7 March – against the Netherlands and in the home of Dutch hockey, the iconic Wagener Stadium.
While Germany are sitting in eighth place in the competition, six places below the Netherlands, it is worth noting that Die Honamas have only played four matches in the competitions far, compared to the Netherlands’ nine.
It is also worth noting that fixtures between these two teams are always extremely competitive, tightly contested matches and both sides will be determined to get an advantage ahead of their encounters later in the year at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, where they will meet in Pool A; and at the EuroHockey Championships. In their past 22 meetings in all competitions, the Netherlands are just ahead in the statistics with 11 wins to Germany’s nine. While the stats might point to a home win, the German team are always capable of beating the odds.
“It will be made more difficult as we haven’t had a FIH Pro League game since September last year, but we have used the last couple of months to train really hard and to put focus on our defence. We know the Dutch team is very good at countering. They have a lot of pace in the team so whenever they make a turnover they move the ball very quickly.
“But when we have the ball, we are going to move very confidently and offensively. It will be a really nice match.”
The German team’s last FIH Hockey Pro league match was an encounter with the table topping Belgiums. The first match was a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of the world number one side, but Germany bounced back to force a 1-1 draw and then to win the ensuing shoot-out. Fuchs says the team has been working on lessons learnt from that match.
“We are looking forward to being on the pitch again. 2020 has been such a difficult year and we are just excited to be back playing an international match again. This match will see a lot of both defensive and offensive play and I think people will really enjoy it. I just can’t wait to kick off this year.”
Although the fans will not be allowed into the stadium itself, the matches will be available to watch via television or digital streaming thanks to our broadcast partnerships, as well as on the new Watch.Hockey app in every country where a rights holding broadcaster is not showing the matches live.
You can also keep up to date with all the latest news on the FIH Hockey Pro League via the event website and through FIH social media channels - Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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