Defending champs Belgium falter after leading 2-0
BHUBANESWAR: For a few minutes, it felt like the only thing that existed for German coach Andre Henning was the corner of the goalpost that he was sitting on at the Kalinga stadium here.
As Mats Grambusch and his men did the champion dance and the brimming spectators celebrated wildly, the part-time motivational speaker and fulltime national coach, enjoyed his quiet moments an d allowed tears to roll down unashamedly.
He was quick to wipe them off, assuming none had spotted him in the corner. But the spotlight was on him as much as it was on his victor ious unit. The 39-year-old was a proud man, having watched most of the boys he coached at club-level become champion men. In a contest befitting a final, but not for the faint-hearted, Germany scripted a new chapter, dethroning Belgium to lift the FIH World Cup here on Sunday night.
After a late-goal from Belgian striker Tom Boon levelled the scores at 3-all, Germany held their nerves to come thr ough 5-4 in the shootout, which stretched into sudden death.
1/10:Hockey World Cup: Germany dash Belgium's hopes of title defence, clinch third title
2/10:Germany reign supreme
<p>Germany ended Belgium's dominance in global hockey in the last 5 years as they made yet another stunning comeback from a 2-goal deficit to beat the defending champions.<br /></p>AP
3/10:For the third time!
<p>With the win in penalty shootout, Germany clinched the FIH Hockey Men's World Cup for a third time.<br /></p>PTI
4/10:A thrilling finale
<p>The two sides were locked 3-3 at the end of regulation time of the thrilling final. In the shootout, the Germans prevailed 5-4 in sudden death in front of a packed Kalinga Stadium.<br /></p>AFP
5/10:The regulation time scorers
<p>Niklas Wellen (29th), Gonzalo Peillat (41st) and captain Mats Grambusch (48th) scored for Germany in the regulation time while Florent van Aubel Florent (10th), Tanguy Cosyns (11th) and Tom Boon (59th) found the target for Belgium.<br /></p>AFP
6/10:The comeback kings
<p>This was the third time in the tournament that Germany had won after trailing 0-2 and their mental strength and never-say-die attitude came to the fore again as they denied the Belgians to defend their title.<br /></p>PTI
7/10:The other two come-back wins
<p>The earlier two matches were against England in the quarterfinals and Australia in the semifinals.<br /><br /></p>PTI
8/10:In elite company
<p>Germany joined Australia and Netherlands to have clinched the World Cup title three times. Their earlier triumphs had come in 2002 and 2006.<br /></p>
9/10:Pakistan's supremacy
<p>Only Pakistan have won the event four times.<br /></p>
10/10:The early onslaught
<p>A day before the summit clash, head coach Andre Henning had said that Germany have given massive focus on their defence but a two-minute Belgium blitzkrieg left them in daze.<br /><br /></p>In the knockout stage of the competition, Germany have made coming back from the brink a habit and it was no different in the final as they were 0-2 after the first quarter. But there were moments in the game when one thought Belgium would do aGermany on Germany, especially when Boon scored.
However, the Germans operated at a different level, beating the experience of the Belgians with their tactics in the shootouts. In the thirdconsecutive match, the Germans showcased unmatched resilience backed by their never-say-die attitude. They were slow off the blocks, scrappy in patches but knew how to wear out the Belgians.
The shootout was a saga of hits and misses after Thies Prinz and Wellen handed the Germans a 2-1 advantage with Flore nt van Aubel finding the mark for the holders. Germany's young shootoutspecialist goalkeeper JeanPaul Danneberg denied Victor Wegnez and Arthur de Sloover and it boiled down to Wellen to score the winner with the seasoned Vincent Vanasch in the goal. Wellen maintained his clean slate in the shootout to guide his team to the title, the y last won at home in 2006.
Wellen, who became a father during a pool match against Belgium, later said, "The last three weeks have been the most amazing of my life. I'm speechless."
The golden generation of Belgium, which won the previous edition at the same venue through shootout against the Netherlands, were left searching for the silver lining. While this is the third World title for the Die Honamas, it is the first major medal for the entire team, ushering a new era in German hockey.
Netherlands pip Australia, win bronze
BHUBANESWAR: The Netherlands, who endured a heartbreaking loss to Belgium in the semifinal, took home the bronze with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Australia. The Dutch did much of the running and possession, but it was Australia who went ahead with the prolific Jeremy Hayward penalty corner conversion in the 12th minute. This is the first time since 1998 that Australia are without a medal.
Result: Netherlands 2 (Jip Janssen 32; Thierry Brinkman 34, 39) bt Australia 1 (Jeremy Hayward 12).
