Hockey World Cup 2023: Germany edge past England in nail biter, Netherlands beat South Korea

Hockey World Cup 2023: The Germany team on Wednesday edged past the England team in a tense Quarterfinal of the Hockey World Cup 2023. After trailing by 0-2 two minutes before regulation time, Germany defeated England in penalty shootouts. Meanwhile, the Dutch defeated South Korea by 5-1 to enter the last four.

Germany struck in the 58th and 59th minutes through captain Mats Grambusch and his younger brother Tom to take the quarterfinal match to the penalty shootout where they prevailed over a heart-broken England team 4-3, snatching a win from the jaws of defeat.

Germany, who had finished second in Pool B and defeated France 5-1 in the crossover match, face three-time champions and last edition bronze medallists Australia in the semifinals on Friday. In the second quarterfinal match of the day at the Kalinga Stadium, last two editions runners-up Netherlands ended gritty South Korea's more-than-expected run in the tournament with a 5-1 win to set up a last-four clash with Belgium on Friday.

South Korea, who had stunned 2016 Rio Olympics champions Argentina in the crossover match on Monday, yet again punched above their weight as they gave a spirited fight to their more fancied opponents, ranked third in the world. South Korea are ranked ninth in the world. South Korea were the only Asian side that remained in the quarterfinals. The vociferous spectators at the Kalinga Stadium thought that England would wrap up the match comfortably after Zachary Wallace (12th) and Liam Ansell (33rd) had given them a 2-0 lead but, to their astonishment, the Germans came back roaring to score goals in the 58th and 59th minutes through Mats and Tom Grambusch respectively.

Just before that Christopher Ruhr had wasted a chance from the penalty stroke in the 57th minute. When Germany was training 1-2 and got a penalty stroke with one minute to go in the match, Mats asked his younger brother Tom to take it. Tom made no mistake from the spot to take the match to the penalty shootout. Niklas Wellen, Hannes Muller, Prinz Thies and Christopher Ruhr scored for Germany in the shootout. For England, James Albery, Zachary Wallace, and Phil Roper struck while David Goodfield missed.

In the second quarterfinal match, Koen Bijen (27th and 31st) struck twice while Justen Blok (36th), Steijn van Heijningen (50th) and Teun Beins (58th) scored the other goals for the Netherlands. Inwoo Seo (51st) scored the consolation goal for South Korea. One would have thought that the Netherlands would roll over South Korea. But it was not to be as the small Asian country fought tooth and nail and were not intimidated by the reputation of their opponents. Both South Korea and the Netherlands were goalless in the first quarter with both sides earning two penalty corners each without utilising any of them.

The Netherlands were the dominant side in the second session with more circle penetration and took the lead three minutes from the first half, with Koen Bijen scoring a field goal. The nimble-footed Koreans, however, did not just sit back. They made quick counter-attacks and forced two penalty corners though they could not convert any of them. From the second penalty corner, penalty corner specialist Jang Jonghyun's drag flick hit German umpire Ben Goentgen on the face after the ball deflected from the stick of a Dutch defender. Goentgen, who fell down in pain before regaining composure, was helped out of the field and reserve umpire, Raghu Prasad of India, took charge for the remainder of the match. The Netherlands took the game out of South Korea's reach in the third quarter with two goals in the space of five minutes. Bijen got his second goal from a penalty corner in the 31st minute before Justen Blok struck a field goal in the 36th minute.