In a very exciting final match played at the Belfius Arena, Germany defeated Spain 1-0 and won the Men’s Hockey World Cup for the second consecutive time. With this historic victory, Germany has equaled the record by capturing the World Cup trophy for the fourth time. Both the teams, which reached the final after defeating co-host Belgium, showed excellent defensive play, but in the end the German team’s patience and aggressive strategy proved costly.
The only goal was scored in the third quarter
The most decisive moment of the match came in the closing moments of the third quarter, when a rare mistake was seen from the Spanish defence. Hannes Müller collected the loose ball at the top of the Spanish circle and delivered a brilliant reverse pass to Michel Struthoff on the byline. With the help of Paul-Philippe Kaufmann, Struthoff did not let this opportunity go waste and dodged Spanish goalkeeper Luis Calzado and put the ball in the goalpost.
Fans saw a tough fight
There was a tough competition between the two teams right from the beginning of the match. In the first 90 seconds of the match, Germany applied pressure by winning a penalty corner, but Benedikt Schwarzhaupt’s dragflick was brilliantly stopped by Calzado. After this, the Spanish defense led by Jordi Bonastre did not allow the German forwards to take many shots on the goal post. Spain also got three consecutive penalty corners in the third quarter, but due to the fearless first rush of German defender Theo Hinrichs and the mistakes of Spanish captain Mark Miralles and Pepe Cunil, they failed to score the equalizing goal.
The match was exciting till the last minute
About four minutes before the end of the match, Spain took a risk and called goalkeeper Calzado off the field and brought in an extra outfield player, but it proved impossible for them to penetrate Germany’s strong defence. With this defeat, Spain’s dream of winning its first World Cup title was once again shattered and after 1971 and 1998, they faced disappointment in another final.
