Germany became the first men’s team to win back-to-back FIH Hockey World Cup titles on two separate occasions by successfully defending their crown with a 1-0 victory over Spain in the final in Wavre on today.
Michel Struthoff’s 44th minute goal was the defining moment, a lovely piece of opportunism as he picked up the ball on the left baseline, rounded the goalkeeper and slipped into the net.
It was one of precious few German opportunities in the second half as Spain made most of the forward movement and won a series of corners.
But they could find no way past the defences of Jean-Paul Danneberg who kept out two sharp backhand chances in the first half and then – along with his corner defensive team – was everything the Red Sticks threw at him.
Christopher Rühr was named Player of the Match and said afterwards his side were planning to celebrate all of next week: “[This means] much more than anything else. I think everyone said, ‘Ah, the Germans this year, nah, they won’t be there.’
“Everyone took it on the other teams, but we showed what we’re capable of and played an amazing German competition. It was unbelievably tough. I think Spain played a hell of a tournament.
“We always struggle against Spain. They are a tough side, and they played a really good game today, and we had the luckier end.”
Earlier in the day in the bronze medal playoff, Argentina beat the Netherlands 2-1 to reach the podium for only the second time in their history.
They overcame early Dutch dominance and began to build more momentum and struck first in the 41st minute. A powerful strike from the 23m line found an unmarked Tomas Domene in front of goal, whose deft one-handed deflection put Argentina 1-0 up – his 10th goal of the tournament.
Jorrit Croon was handed a 10-minute yellow card five minutes later after accidentally catching an Argentinian in the face with his stick.
But the Dutch rallied and capitalised on their second penalty corner of the match in the 49th minute, with Jip Janssen finding Floris Middendorp with the variation to knock in the equaliser.
The Netherlands had a goal disallowed for danger with seven minutes remaining and the Argentinians made the most of the let-off, with 41-year-old Matias Rey scoring from a penalty corner in the 59th minute after the initial shot was charged down.
In the closing ceremony, Spain’s Luis Calzado was named best goalkeeper, Justus Warweg was the JSW Rising Star and Domene was both top goalscorer and best player.
Picture: Will Palmer/World Sport Pics
