Christopher Zeller’s picture perfect drag-flick zoning in on the inside of the stick-side post in the 30^th minute proved all that could separate Germany and Korea in the final game of the day. How they managed to maintain that advantage to the finish owed a huge amount to Max Mueller and Max Weinhold at the back while You Hyo Sik missed a couple of great chances to level the tie. It leaves Germany with two wins from two, level with the Netherlands, while Korea are three points back after the day’s play.

After Korea had started well, Germany grew into the first half. Oskar Deecke could not apply the full weight of a lusty swing to a decent chance while Benjamin Wess somehow missed at the back post from a right wing cross from two great openings. But when their second corner came along, awarded after Zeller’s reverse was bravely blocked by Kang Moon Kyu, the ace striker whizzing home his 155^th international goal just a couple of centimetres from the apex of post and crossbar.

Korea stormed back into contention in the second period despite a series of cards as Kang Moon Kweon nudged into sideboard and Nam Hyun Woo pulled his corner-flick wide. Woon Kon Yeo, after a tricky run, drew the best from Weinhold before You Hyo Sik’s last gasp chance was the best of them but, after beating three men, proceeded to slice his shot from close to the spot to leave them wholly frustrated as Germany ran out time to hold on to the win.

Maximilian MUELLER (GER), on the match being tough: "We knew before that Korea are a very strong side, they played quite confidently against New Zealand in the first game, so we knew their strengths. We knew it would be a tough match and it was."

On whether it is worrying for him that Germany failed to score from open play: "No, but that's not good. We have to get better at scoring goals from counter-attacks. We had 15 or 20 counter-attacks in the whole match, that's normally two or three corners and one goal, and that's what we're looking for the next day."

On the crowd being pro-Korea: "You notice it because everyone is cheering, but that's normal for us. In Germany it's the same. The crowd is always for the underdog. The Koreans pressed the whole second half and didn't score, and the crowd want to see a goal, of course. That's normal. That's not our problem, and from my point of view I like to play against the crowd as well as with the crowd."

SHIN Seok Kyo (KOR) - coach, on whether Korea were unlucky not to get something from the match: "It was more about the skills of the German players rather than luck. The Germans were superior in terms of how they made their chances and finished them off. In terms of the opportunities both teams had, it was very similar. For us, we had one penalty corner and two good chances to shoot in the second half, so it really was about whether we could finish the chances or not."

On his second-half tactics: "We pressed high in the last 20 minutes because I knew the German team was tired and the Korea team was fitter. Germany are the strongest team in the pool, we had targeted this game for one point and we are disappointed to come away with nothing."