The first semi-final of the day was fought out by Germany v England.
Germany had finished in the Pool seconds behind an impressive Dutch team and England had topped their pool seeing off Russia, but then losing to Spain and a win v France had put them into the semi-final.
Germany set about the semi-final in an assured fashion, building from the back and 2 early goals saw England chasing the game for most of the first half. The first goal was scored by Sabine Knuepfer in the second minute, quickly followed by a converted corner in the 6th minute.
The score was 2-0 to Germany at the half and had the promise of an high scoring game.
However in the second half a superior technically team, Germany shut down the gaps and made it difficult for the English girls to break through.
Emily Defroand brought the game back to 2-1 in the 41st minute, a disputed goal by Germany, but deemed good by both umpires, and England seemed to find the impetus they needed. The final 20 minutes of the game was played at a higher tempo from England and matched by Germany. Germany had the chance to seal the win in the 50th minute, via a well struck PC, but the English keeper pulled off an excellent reflex save. Darting runs by England’s Laura SAENGER and Anne Winter were stopped in their tracks.
England took their keeper off for the last 5 minutes but the score at the end remained 2-1.
Germany will not wait for the result of the game Netherlands v Spain for who they meet in the Final on Saturday.
‘2 11 Sabine KNUEPFER GER (FG) 1 – 0
‘6 21 Nike LORENZ GER (PC) 2 – 0
’41 8 Emily DEFROAND (FG) 2 – 1
Christmas comes early for Georgian Hockey!
The EHF is delighted to announce that whilst we will be launching the EHF Solidarity Grant system in 2021, the hockey players in Georgia will be the first to receive a much needed boost with sticks and balls coming directly from the EHF in the coming weeks! Recently...