Record winners Germany have reached the final of the European Indoor Hockey Championships for the 19th time. The winning goal against Belgium came in the last minute.
Thanks to a last-minute goal from striker Henrik Mertgens in the 5:4 (2:1) semi-final thriller against hosts Belgium, national coach Rein van Eijk’s team is in the final against Poland on Sunday (2 p.m.).
Constantin Staib from the Hamburg Polo Club scored the first two goals for the German team in a tight game from the start. Adrian Lehmann-Richter (Berliner HC) and Erik Kleinlein (Mannheimer HC) then scored before Mertgens from Mülheim scored the celebrated winning goal in the last minute of the game.
“It was super loud, everyone was really into it and it was a lot of fun. I’m overjoyed to be in the final tomorrow,” said double goalscorer Constantin Staib, while coach van Eijk spoke of a “hard-fought victory”: “I I can praise all the boys for how we presented ourselves as a team on and off the field, in a full Belgian hall.”
In the final against Poland
The German team reached the semi-finals on Saturday morning despite a 5:6 defeat against Switzerland as second in the group behind Austria. The Germans won the group games against Spain (6:2) and Croatia (7:6). There was a 5:5 draw against defending champions Austria.
In the second semi-final, Poland surprisingly beat defending champions Austria 3-2 in a penalty shootout – after regular playing time the score was 1-1.