Following four days of thrilling knock-out action in what is widely regarded as the world’s best club hockey competition, the line-up for the FINAL4 competition of the 2015-16 Euro Hockey League (EHL) season has revealed itself.
Between Friday and Monday (25-28 March), the EHL KO16 event took place at Amsterdam’s historic Wagener Stadium in the Netherlands, with 16 teams from eight countries all doing battle for the four available tickets to May’s FINAL4 competition at Barcelona’s Pau Negre Stadium.
The competition semi-finals will see Spain’s Atlétic Terrassa taking on SV Kampong of the Netherlands, while fellow Dutch side Amsterdam H&BC will go head-to-head with Germany’s Harvestehuder THC, the EHL champions of 2014.
Atlètic Terrassa booked their ticket to Barcelona thanks to victories over two of Belgium’s finest teams, seeing off KHC Dragons in a shoot-out on Friday before a stunning late strike from Jan Malgoza gave them a 3-2 triumph over KHC Leuven on Sunday. With Terrassa being less than 30 kilometres from host city Barcelona, Atlétic are certain to have a big fan presence at FINAL4.
“It’s unbelievable”, said a delighted Malgoza after the match. “To be honest, to score the decisive goal like this, I cannot put it into words. It’s the first time we’ve reached the FINAL4. Doing it this way – first against Dragons and then Leuven – is the best way to do it.”
Inspired by Netherlands aces Robert Kemperman, Quirijn Caspers and Sander de Wijn, Kampong joined Atlétic in the EHL semi-finals by claiming a 6-1 victory against Racing Club de France in the KO16 phase before overpowering German champions Rot-Weiss Köln - a team containing 2015 FIH Young Player of the Year Christopher Rühr - 5-1 in KO8.
De Wijn, who was named man of the match against a Rot-Weiss team that had eliminated triple EHL champions UHC Hamburg, also of Germany, in the KO16 round, said: “The score didn’t look like it was that hard but our opponent was the German champion, a great team. It was a complete team effort which showed how fully focussed we were.”
With UHC Hamburg and Rot-Weiss Köln eliminated on Sunday, Germany’s last remaining hope of success in this year’s EHL suddenly rested on the shoulders of 2014 EHL champions Harvestehuder THC. Following a 5-1 win over Russian outfit Dinamo Kazan on Saturday, the team driven by Germany legend Tobias Hauke faced the task of taking on reigning Dutch giants and Euro Hockey League champions Oranje Zwart, who needed a late strike from 2015 FIH Player of the Year Robert van der Horst to edge past Belgium’s Royal Leopold 2-1.
Monday’s meeting between HTHC and Oranje Zwart was one of the stand-out games of the weekend, with Austrian international Michael Körper scoring three times as the team from Germany battled back from 4-1 down before winning an epic contest in the shoot-out.
Speaking afterwards, goal-scoring hero Körper said his team always have belief in everything that they do. “The team spirit we have, this whole club is like a family. On the pitch, off the pitch, it is the same. We fight for each other until the end.”
The FINAL4 line-up was completed by KO16 host club Amsterdam H&BC, who were given a scare by Spain’s Real Club de Polo de Barcelona. Early efforts from Robbert Tigges and Valentin Verga put the Dutch side in control before a goal from Argentina international Matias Rey completely changed the balance of the match. However, cheered on by a packed stadium, Amsterdam survived the test and kept alive hopes of winning their first EHL title.
“We defended really well in a tough game with lots of nice one-on-one battles”, said Amsterdam’s Tigges, who captained the Netherlands to glory at the Indoor World Cup 2015 in Leipzig, Germany. “It was pretty physical from both sides. It was quite tight and I think, in the end, our goalie [Laurens Goedegebuure] saved us a little bit.”
If you missed any of the action from the Euro Hockey League KO16 weekender in Amsterdam, there is still the chance to catch up on all of the results and relive the key moments. Video highlights, photos, reports and much more are all available on Euro Hockey League’s official website: www.ehlhockey.tv.
With its innovation and increased levels of professionalism, the Euro Hockey League is very much in line with FIH’s Hockey Revolution Strategy, creating a powerful image for hockey as the sport aims to become a global game that inspires the next generation. To learn more, click here.
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Photo: EHL / Frank Uijlenbroek
