Netherlands v. Germany 3-1 (half-time: 1-1)

A berth in the semi-finals was on the line in the meeting between the two European giants, Germany and the Netherlands and it was the Dutch that claimed the first semi-final spot in the men’s tournament with a 3-1 win. It seemed only fitting that the man scoring the key go-ahead goal was veteran Teun de Nooijer, who was celebrating his 450^th cap in front of the Dutch Royal family members Prince Willem and his wife Maxima.

The win guarantees the Dutch their seventh-consecutive top four finish and puts the defending Olympic champion, Germany, in peril of not cracking into the semi-finals. The Germans need to pick up at least one point in their game on Tuesday against New Zealand or hope for a Korean loss to make the playoffs.

Germany took the lead just two minutes into action on its first penalty corner chance. Christopher Zeller easily hit the mark on the chance to give the Germans the early 1-0 advantage, it would be the last that they would hold the advantage as the Dutch sparked back to life and never looked back. The lead lasted for just over 10 minutes when Bob de Voogd scooped up a rebound and fired in the second-chance shot to tie the game at one.

de Nooijer’s go-ahead goal came just moments into the second half as he was waiting by the far post for a spot on pass and gave the Dutch the 2-1 lead and more importantly the momentum to open the half, The Netherlands quickly built on their lead when Mink van der Weerden went top shelf on a penalty corner to open up a 3-1 lead.

The pace was fast and furious in the second half as the teams treated the sold out Riverbank Arena to end-to-end action. Germany did it’s best to climb back into the game, but the two-goal lead was too much to overcome as the Netherlands booked their semi-final ticket.

Germany closes its preliminary round action with the last game of the day on Tuesday against New Zealand, while the Netherlands will take on Korea in what are the two essential games for the semi-final picture in Group B

 (Eric Bailey)

Teun DE NOOIJER (NED)
On scoring a goal on his 450th cap for Netherlands:
"It's always nice to score and this was a special game for me and a special game for Holland as well. We wanted to show what we can do and how good we are. In periods of the game I think we showed it. It's good for us and we will get some confidence from this game so that's pretty nice. We have four games and twelve points, it feels good."

On how he is still able to compete at an international level:
"There is a lot of speed in the game of course, I always have some speed in my game so that's maybe why I am still there. I still hope to be among the guys but of course I have to stretch everything out of my body and push everything out of my body. This will be my last tournament. I have one more year with my club. I have my own company and I need to spend more time there than the last year."

 

Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange (NED)
On today's Netherlands game:
"I think it was a beautiful game. Having Teun DE NOOIJER (NED) playing his 450th international match and scoring a goal in it is just incredible. It was a beautiful field goal. I think they have exceeded expectations, their own ones but also from everybody else."

On the Netherlands qualifying for the semifinals:
"They would have qualified for the semifinals by a draw, too, but they decided to really go for it and in my opinion, that is very sportive. Also, they surely don't want to face Australia in the semifinals. Maybe they had hoped to just make it to the semifinals, but now that they can avoid to face Australia, it is good that they decided to do that."

 

Maximilian MUELLER (GER)
On the team's performance:
"It was a weak performance. We had no chances to put pressure on the Dutch defence, and our own defence was very weak today."

On their next match (against New Zealand) and attempting to qualify from the pool:
"New Zealand are a tough team, with physical and strong players. It will be rough and a hard match for us. We will have to work hard in our defence and our penalty corners. After the game we will see where we stand and hope we are in the semifinals."

 

Christopher ZELLER (GER)
On today's loss to Netherlands:
"I am very disappointed but we were just not good enough today in our defence. We wanted the win but they (NED) deserved to win today, we did not."

On facing New Zealand in their final pool B match on Tuesday at the Riverbank Arena:
"It's very important to us that we make the semifinals and win a medal. We are under pressure now in our final game, but perhaps that will help us."
"Our first three games were easy, too easy for us and too comfortable. Now we must win and we must thrive off the pressure to win. I'm confident we can win, we must win."