After several unsuccessful attempts, the German women's national hockey team is back in the top four in the world. After three quarter-final bankruptcies, they finally managed to win again against New Zealand and thus made it into the semi-finals of the World Cup. But one shortcoming is becoming apparent.
The German women's hockey team reached the semi-finals at the World Championships in the Netherlands and Spain. In the quarter-finals, the team of national coach Valentin Altenburg narrowly won against the reigning Commonwealth champion New Zealand, but earned 1-0 (1-0). Lena Micheel (16th) scored the decisive goal for the DHB women. Opponents in the semifinals on Saturday are Argentina or England, the game will take place on Wednesday.
Germany was dominant throughout the game, but failed to gain a comfortable lead early on, as they did in the 1-0 win over South Africa in the second round. Above all, the numerous penalty corners were again too harmless. "We continue to work on scoring more goals. It is important that there is zero at the back and we do one more at the front," said DHB captain Nike Lorenz after the game. 10:2 penalty corners and 15:3 goal chances confirmed the dominance, but also the bad chances of the DHB women.
The decisive goal did not come from a penalty corner, but from the game. At the start of the second quarter, the Danas used a majority situation, Micheel scored her first goal of the tournament from a central position. The New Zealanders, who as undefeated first in their group did not have to go through the second round, only appeared dangerously in the goal area of the Germans towards the end of the game.
Possible opponents in the semi-finals on Saturday at 9.30 p.m. (DAZN) in Terrassa, Spain, are two-time world champions Argentina or England, who will not play their quarter-finals until Wednesday. Most recently, the DHB women were in the semi-finals of a World Cup in 2010, where they lost to the South Americans from Argentina. At the last World Cup in 2018 and also most recently at the 2021 Olympics, the German women's hockey team was already in the quarterfinals.
