KUALA LUMPUR: Germany ended a decade long wait for the men’s Hockey Junior World Cup (JWC) success by beating France 2-1 in the final at the Bukit Jalil National Hockey Stadium, here tonight.
It was also Germany’s fourth JWC victory on Malaysian soil, after having won all three editions hosted by Malaysia, namely the under-21 World Cup – in Kuala Lumpur (1982), Ipoh (1989) and Johor Bahru (co-hosted with Singapore) in 2009 – besides also having emerged champions in the 1985, 1993 and 2013 editions.
In the repeat of the 2013 New Delhi edition final, world number seven France who stunned the world number two 2-0 in the group stage match last week, took the lead via Jules Verrier’s field goal in the 17th minute, in an attempt to avenge their 2-5 defeat 10 years ago.
Germany, however, managed to turn the tables around in the second half, when Jan Cordes wrested the ball from a French defender to score in the 32nd minute, while Liam Holdermann’s 40th minute hit went above stopper Marius Clement, who was on the ground, to put the Germans ahead.
The Les Bleus, whose best achievement was a second place finish in the 2013 edition, were then forced to use power-play (substitute goalkeeper with an outfield player) in the last three minutes, but were unable to break down the solid German defence.
Germany advanced to the final after ousting India 4-1 in the semi-final on Thursday, while France beat Spain 3-1 to book their berth.
The 20-year-old Holdermann, who scored the winning goal, said it was an emotional victory after having to get himself checked at the National Sports Institute for heart issues, just before their 5-3 win over South Africa in their first Group B match last week (Dec 5).
“I feel not a nice day because it was so tough, but I didn’t realise I scored the winning goal. After the break, we came with the mentality that, we need to pressure on the ball and play better… It was unbelievable that we had become champions in my first JWC,” the Berlin-born told reporters.
Meanwhile, France head coach Matthias Dierckens said his charges lost possession and found it more challenging to penetrate into the circle during the second half.
“I think our players had little bit of fatigue and missed a few things, lost more balls in the second half. Some may say you must be pleased with medals, but no, we are sad for not being able to win the World Cup,” he said despite having bettered last edition’s bronze medal finish.
In the 2021 edition at Bhubaneswar, India, Germany finished second after going down 2-4 to Argentina, while France beat hosts India 3-1 for the bronze medal.
The match scheduled for 8.30 pm, was delayed by an hour due to heavy rain before the bronze-medal match between Spain and India, that started at 7pm compared to the initial schedule of 6pm.
Meanwhile, Spain equaled their best ever achievement of a third place finish in the JWC after stunning world number three India 3-1 in the bronze-medal playoff.
The world number six, who finished third in the Rotterdam 2005 edition, scored three field goals through Nicolas Alvarez’s brace in the 25th and 51st minute, and Pau Petchame in the 40th minute.
The 2001 and 2016 champions, India, got a consolation goal through Sunil Jojo’s penalty corner in the 28th minute, to be satisfied with fourth place, after also ending fourth in the last edition in Bhubaneswar.
France skipper Gaspard Xavier was named the tournament’s best player and rising star, while Belgium’s Hugo Labouchere emerged as the tournament’s top scorer with nine goals and Germany’s stopper Joshua Onyekwue Nnaji won the best goalkeeper award.
The trophies and medals for winners were presented by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) President Datuk Tayyab Ikram and Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) President Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal while the prize presentation was followed by a grand display of fireworks. –Bernama
