Friday was men’s semi-final day at the TriFinance EuroHockey Championships, and it proved to be a truly memorable one for Olympic champions Germany and host nation Belgium.
Germany remain on course for a sixth European title as they saw off their fierce rivals and fellow London 2012 Olympic finalists the Netherlands 5-3 in the first semi-final, while in-form Belgium sealed their place in Sunday’s final thanks to a stunning 3-0 victory over England in front of a thrilled massive home crowd in Boom. The Netherlands and England will fight it out for the Bronze medal.
Earlier in the day, in Pool C playing for fifth place, Poland had defeated the Czech Republic and Spain had sailed past Ireland.
More information about the matches can be found below, with video highlights available at the bottom of the page.
Semi Final 1: Netherlands – Germany 3-5 (2-1)
Germany remain on course for a sixth European title as they saw off their fierce rivals and fellow London 2012 Olympic finalists the Netherlands 5-3 in the first semi-final.
They did the hard way, coming from a goal behind at half-time following two Mink van der Weerden penalty corner rockets that had cancelled out Tobias Hauke’s goal in the 29th minute. Thilo Stralkowski got Germany level for a second time in the 44th minute when he thumped in a bouncing ball on his reverse after an incisive run by Mats Grambusch.
It started his side’s excellent turnaround that built further momentum when Grambusch applied a beautiful behind-the-back touch to a crash ball from Florian Fuchs. With Germany in front for the first time, they extended the margin to two goals in the 60th minute. Again, Grambusch was the scorer this time when he slid onto a penalty corner push, lifting the ball over Jaap Stockmann.
Billy Bakker gave the game a lively finish when he adroitly lifted the ball before bouncing it past Nicolas Jacobi. It made it 4-3 with five minutes to go and Tim Jenniskens thought he had won a last minute corner for his side to potentially equalise. But the call was waved away by the umpire with the video review providing no further help for the Dutch. Germany marauded up the pitch and Oskar Deecke calmly flicked in to complete a stunning tie with a lovely goal.
Semi Final 2: Belgium – England 3-0 (1-0)
Belgium are in line for their best ever finish at the TriFinance EuroHockey Championships as they comprehensively out-played England in the second semi-final in front of a fervent crowd in Boom.
They took the lead in the 20th minute as Florent van Aubel was set free down the right and his perfect cross found the dive of birthday boy Thomas Briels, his deflection going up and over George Pinner.
They pressed for the remainder of the half but it was their sole reward for a dominant performance. Loick Luypaert flicked another effort wide while Briels hit the crossbar, though it was unlikely to count as he had made the ball dangerous in the build-up.
For England's part they had one corner charged down while Vincent Vanasch saved well from Tom Carson in the ninth minute from the pick of their chances.
But Belgium extended their lead to 2-0 in the 44th minute when Simon Gougnard dodged around a couple of tackles down the left wing before flipping the ball across goal. It fell invitingly for Jerome Truyens who smashed it through the reeling defence into the goal.
And the game was put out of sight in the 53rd minute as Dan Fox sat out his second suspension of the half. Arthur van Doren's slap into a crowded circle created the havoc and van Aubel was on hand to fire home.
From there, they pulled out some of the party tricks with van Aubel and van Doren producing some outrageous moments of skill, much to the delight of the capacity audience.
Pool C: Spain - Ireland 4-0 (2-0)
Two goals in each half saw Spain move into a very strong in Pool C in the race for fifth place, beating Ireland 4-0 at the TriFinance EuroHockey Championships.
Xavi Lleonart got them up and running with a sharp rebound in the seventh minute after his initial run was taken on by Alex Casasayas, drawing David Harte into a fine save. Gabriel Dabanch’s drag-flick squeezed through the Irish defences to make it 2-0 in the 19th minute as Spain produced one of their most fluid spells of the tournament to date. Edi Tubau flicked in another corner a minute into the second period from a switch move and Andres Mir closed out the win with 17 minutes to go when left unmarked in the circle.
It puts Spain on six points and, with a healthy goal difference in their favour, only a heavy defeat to Poland can see them relegated. Ireland, meanwhile, will find out their final equation early on Sunday morning.
Pool C: Czech Republic - Poland 1-4 (0-1)
Poland gave themselves a chance of avoiding relegation back to the second tier of the TriFinance EuroHockey Championships as their four-star first half performance saw off the Czech Republic.
They built a healthy lead and while the Czechs improved after half-time, it was too little too late. Bartosz Zywiczka got his side up and running with a great run and strike from the edge of the circle before Piotr Kozlowski extended the margin in the 21st minute with a devilish corner strike. Dariusz Rachwalski netted soon after Krystian Makowski's close range shot was saved into hit path. Makowski then applied an accurate push for a 4-0 lead at half-time.Stepan Bernatek did get one back for the Czech Republic with eight minutes to go but it was little more than a consolation goal. It means the Czechs return to the second tier while Poland face a game against Spain on Sunday morning that will decide their fate.
Video highlights of this match can be found at the bottom of this page.
To follow the TriFinance EuroHockey Championships in more detail, please visit www.trifinanceeurohockey2013.be or www.eurohockey.org.
The FIH You Tube channel will be providing live streaming of all of this weekend’s medal matches, giving a global audience the chance to watch the finest hockey that Europe has to offer*. More information about this can be found by clicking here.
Source material: European Hockey Federation / Stephen Findlater
