Hosts Blacksticks edged out by Germany
Germany 2-1 New Zealand

Host nation New Zealand fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat against Germany in the third match of the Owen G Glenn FIH Champions Trophy, but the sell-out crowd saw enough from the home team to know that they are far from going to make up the numbers in this tournament. The score was locked at 1-1 for long periods of this Pool B encounter, until Christopher Wesley broke through with ten minutes of the match remaining, putting an end to a four match losing streak.

Germany blasted out of the blocks in the first half, and almost took the lead after just three minutes when a trademark penalty corner drag-flick from Jan-Marco Montag hit the post before Benjamin Wess fired the rebound wide of the target. New Zealand were forced onto the backfoot for much of the opening stages, and eventually the pressure told when Thilo Stralkowski netted following a superb pass from Christoph Menke.

Despite concede early, the Black Sticks fans knew that their team were more than capable of getting themselves back into the game. Their faith was soon rewarded when Hugo Inglis threw himself towards a fine pass from Simon Child and managed to guide the ball past Germany keeper Nico Jacobi.

Inglis went close to grabbing a second toward the end of the first half when he fired towards goal, but this time Jacobi got the better of the 20 year old attacker.

The latter stages of the first half and the early parts of the second were dominated by Germany, who had numerous penalty corners but failed to beat the outstanding Kyle Pontifex. Even a green card to midfield dynamo and reigning FIH Young Player of the Year Tobias Hauke failed to knock them out of their stride. However, despite their possession, they struggled to find a way past a resilient black Sticks defensive line.  

With ten minutes of the match remaining, Germany scored what proved to be the winning goal when Christopher Wesley sneaked ahead of his marker and deflected Jan Philipp Rabente’s pass into the roof of the goal. The home fans cheered their team until the very end, but in the end Germany were worthy winners.

On Sunday, New Zealand will do battle with Korea at 16:05 (GMT +12) before Germany face perennial rivals The Netherlands at 18:05. 

Germany – New Zealand 2-1 - Owen G Glenn FIH Champions Trophy Men 2011

> Germany ended their 4-match losing streak in CT competition by recording their first CT match win since beating New Zealand 5-2 at Monchengladbach 2010.
> Germany held on to their unbeaten status against New Zealand in Champions Trophy competition securing their 4th win in 5 CT matches (1 draw) against the Black Sticks.
> Germany failed to convert any of 7 PCs awarded in this match.
> New Zealand were awarded 2 PCs but also failed to convert.
> 24-year-old Thilo Stralkowski scored his first goal for Germany at a world level event.
> Hugo Inglis scored his second world level goal for NZL after netting against South Africa in the Final 9-10 at the 2010 World Cup.
> Christopher Wesley’s only previous CT goal came against Australia in 2009: GER - AUS 3-1.

Head-to-heads
> Germany are unbeaten against New Zealand in Champions Trophy competition having recorded 3 wins and 1 draw.
> The Black Sticks only result against Germany in CT competition came at Lahore 2004 (1-1), goals scored by Phillip Burrows and Jan-Marco Montag.
> These team last met in August 2010 at the Champions Trophy in Monchengladbach, where Germany beat New Zealand 5-2. This marks Germany’s biggest CT victory over the Black Sticks.
> In July 2010, New Zealand went down 3-1 to Germany at a 4-nations tournament in Nottingham.
> In March 2010, Germany also beat the Black Sticks 5-2 at the World Cup in Delhi.
> Florian Fuchs and Christoph Menke scored once in all three matches Germany played against New Zealand in 2010.
> New Zealand’s last victory over Germany came in February 2009 at a 4-nations tournament in Chandighar, India (3-2).
 
 
Germany Facts
> Germany are participating in their 30th Champions Trophy tournament and their 12th in succession.
> Their last CT medal came in 2009 when they claimed silver and their last CT title dates back to 2007.
> Germany have lost four successive Champions Trophy matches since beating New Zealand 5-2 at Monchengladbach 2010.
> This is Germany’s worst streak in CT competition since 2003-2004, when they lost 9 successive CT matches.
> At 16 CT goals Jan Marco Montag is the top scorer in the current German squad in CT competition. He needs 4 more CT goals to enter the top 3 of Germany goal scorers in CT competition: Carsten Fischer (30 CT goals), Stefan Blöcher (23) and Matthias Witthaus (20).
 
 
New Zealand Facts
> New Zealand is hosting the Champions Trophy for the first time.
> New Zealand make their 6th Champions Trophy appearance. Last year they finished 6th and last. Their best result came at the inaugural CT in 1978 when they finished fourth (of five).
> The 18 players in the New Zealand squad have collected a total of over 2200 caps, however only 109 of these caps came at Champions Trophy tournaments.
> Andy Hayward, Simon Child and Nick Wilson have all scored 4 goals in 6 CT matches. They are New Zealand’s top goalscorers in Champions Trophy competition.
> Dean Couzins was appointed as captain to the Black Sticks in November 2011. He takes over from Phil Burrows who has been the Black Sticks captain for the last three years.