Men's Junior World Cup: Germany claim record-extending 8th title with shoot-out win over Spain

Chennai, Dec 11 (IANS) Defending champions Germany continued their reign in the FIH Hockey Men Junior World Cup, beating Spain 3-2 in the shoot-out after the two teams ended tied 1-1 in regulation in the final played at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday.

Thus, Germany, in their 10th appearance in the final, won their eighth title as they won their eighth title in the 13-day event, which began on November 28 and was held in Chennai and Madurai as the two host cities, concluded with a fitting finale that was decided in a shootout.

Germany took the lead in the final after scoring through Justus Warweg in the 26th minute via a field goal. However, Spain levelled the scores in the 33rd minute with Nicolas Mustaros sounding the board.

In the shoot-out, Germany missed the first two tries before scoring the last three. Spain took a 1-0 lead when Pablo Roman scored off the second attempt after they missed their first try. In the remaining three tries, Aleix Bozal and Andrés Medina failed, and Spain suffered a heartbreak.

Germany extended their record of Men’s Junior World Cup title wins to eight, riding on their rising star Jasper Ditzer’s goalkeeping skills.

The nervousness of the teams was evident, as Spain were vying for their maiden title in their first final, while Germany wanted to defend their crown. The focus of both teams was more on their defence, especially Germany, after they took the lead in the 26th minute through Justus Warweg’s field goal.

But Spain managed to breach the German fortress three minutes after half-time as Nicolas Mustaros helped his side draw level at 1-1.

Neither of the teams could score off the penalty corners they created; Spain had five, all in the goalless first quarter that they dominated, while Germany earned three.

The shootout too went down to the wire, decided on the 10th attempt.

Germany got off to a poor start, with Jonas von Gersum and Warweg failing to beat the defences of goalkeeper Diego Palomero, who Spain brought in to replace Jan Capellades for the shootout. Spain’s Pere Amat too failed to make his team’s first attempt against German goalkeeper Ditzer count, but Pablo Roman scored to put his team ahead.

The Germans made things even when Benedikt Geyer converted their third attempt, and Aleix Bozal missed for Spain. But it was Germany that handled pressure well, scoring off their last two attempts as well – thanks to Alec von Schwerin and captain Ben Hasbach. Though Spain kept itself in with Juan Prado’s conversion, their crucial last attempt by Andres Medina was foiled by Ditzer, which sparked wild celebrations on the field and in the German dugout.

“Spain made it incredibly hard for us, and we didn’t have the best of our days in possession and in the moments of transition. But then, the boys always believed in being able to win in the shootout, which we did,” said Germany’s coach Mirko Stenzel after the title win. “It feels amazing, overwhelming as well. We didn’t really think about the seven titles that you mentioned. We are just celebrating the present one. Incredibly proud of the boys, coming back from probably not the best of the matches during this tournament or this year.”

Earlier, India defeated Argentina 4-2 to win the bronze medal for the first time, adding to the two gold and one silver medals.

--IANS

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