Germany beat Pakistan in Hockey World Cup opener

BHUBANESWAR: Pakistan lost to Germany by 0-1 in the Hockey World Cup 2018 opening match in the Indian city of Bhubaneswar here on Saturday.

Germany’s Miltkau Marco scored the only goal for his side in the third quarter of the game. Team Pakistan played well throughout the match but unfortunately didn’t succeed to goal score in the stipulated time.

Pakistan won the World Cup in 1971, 1978, 1982 and 1994 while Germany lifted the trophy twice in 2002 and 2006. Currently, Pakistan are ranked 13th in the FIH rankings whereas Germany stand at sixth position.

The two sides have met eight times at the World Cup. In 1982 they came across twice, during the pool game and the final. Out of these, Pakistan stood victorious in five matches, including the penalty shootout win at 1994 semi-final.

On the contrary, Germany have been a consistent performer. After finishing 5th in the inaugural World Cup, they made at least to the semis in each of the next 11 editions, before missing out during the last World Cup in 2014 when they ended sixth.

Germans also did not do well at the last Euro Hockey Nations Championships in 2017 where they were fourth. It was their first out of podium finish in the biennial event since 2007. In fact, Germany had won two and ended runners-up the other two times in the intervening four Euro Hockey Nations Championships.

The German hockey team might not be doing well in recent times by its own standards but they start as the favourites against Pakistan, ranked seven places below.

Pakistan can surprise Germans if they reproduce the form displayed at this year’s Champions Trophy where they defeated Olympic Champions Argentina, drew against World number three Belgium and lost only 1-2 to the World Champions and No 1 ranked Australia.

The mega-event features host India, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, Malaysia, Netherlands, Spain, New Zealand, and Pakistan and will continue till December 16. Pakistan will play against Malaysia December 5.

In an earlier match, the Netherlands defeated Malaysia 7-0 in a lopsided opening Pool D encounter thanks to a Jeroen Hertzberger hat-trick at the Hockey World Cup 2018 in Bhubaneswar on Saturday.

Asian Games silver medallist Malaysia, coached by legendary Dutchman Roelant Oltmans, were expected to produce a fight but the world number 4 Netherlands turned out to be a much superior opponent.

Besides Hertzberger (11th, 29th, 60th minutes), Mirco Pruijser (21st), Mink van der Weerden (35th), Robbert Kemperman and Thierry Brinkman (57th) were the other goal scorers for the three-time champions.

The Dutch, who are eyeing a fourth World Cup title, turned out to be too hot for Malaysia to handle as they toyed with the opposition defence and scored goals at will on a miserable night for their Asian rival.

The Netherlands created chances at will and if not for the veteran Malaysian goalkeeper Kumar Subramaniam’s heroics, the margin of defeat could have been bigger for the Asian side.

Subramaniam hardly got any help from his defenders and was forced to make numerous saves.