Germany: High-scoring Classic Between Germany and the Netherlands

On Tuesday evening in Mülheim’s Waldstadion, the Honamas and the Netherlands split 2:5 in a friendly. The classic kicks off preparations for the World Cup and gave some players the opportunity to recommend themselves because there are still spots available in André Henning’s team for the upcoming Pro League games.

The Netherlands dominate the first half

The Dutch tried to put their stamp on the game from the first minute, while the German selection lurked on the halfway line and stood compactly. When the Honamas had possession, the Dutch ran very high – in the 5th minute with success: Germany lost the ball in central defense while moving forward and Jean-Paul Danneberg had no chance in 1-on-1 against Thierry Brinkman – 0:1 from Germany View. In the 7th minute the Honamas had the opportunity to equalize with a penalty corner. However, the Dutch blocked this attempt. With two minutes to go, the Germans had an opportunity to equalize on the break after Mats Grambusch made the switch, but the Dutch goalkeeper saved.

The second quarter began again with a lot of control from the Dutch, who, as in the first quarter, worked a lot with short flicks in midfield to build up the game. The Honamas initially struggled to get dangerously close to the circle and focused on staying stable. In the 24th minute, the Netherlands had their next chance and made it 2-0 in the person of Tjep Hoedemakers. In return, Niklas Wellen managed to enter the circle, which could be defended. The last minutes before the half-time break were dominated by the German selection. The Honamas established themselves in the Dutch half, but the final consequence was missing. The Dutch led 2-0 at the break in the classic. 

We had good approaches with Ball. After four months, however, we still lack the connections. That is normal.

André Henning, national coach

More pace in the 2nd half 

In the second half, too, the Dutch worked with short flicks in midfield. In the 35th minute, Teo Hinrichs captured the ball and played steeply to Jonas Gomoll, who just missed. National coach André Henning seemed to have found the right words during the break: more and more communication in the team also ensured that the Honamas created greater pressure and managed dangerous circle entries. The Dutch counterattacked when the Honamas were under pressure: Terrance Pieters made it 3-0 in the 38th minute. Directly in return, Thies Prinz prevailed against several Dutchmen and failed at the strong goalkeeper of the Dutchmen, the rebound landed on Marco Miltkau, who scored the first goal for the Honamas. With the 1:3 deficit from a German point of view, we went into the last quarter. 

The Dutch started the final section with a lot of speed, so that Danneberg was challenged again in the 47th minute in the German goal. Two minutes later, Thijs van Dam scored with a stick to make it 4-1. The Honamas tried to disrupt the build-up game more often in the last quarter, but the Dutch held back in a controlled manner. The Germans advanced further and ran into the next counterattack: In the 52nd minute, Koen Bijen increased it to 5:1. Two minutes later there was a penalty corner for Germany, which Gonzalo Peillat converted to make it 2:5. A high-scoring test match finally ended with a well-deserved victory for the guest from the Netherlands.

Comments on the game: 

André Henning (national coach): “An extremely helpful and instructive game. All five goals we conceded came from gross individual mistakes. Our counterattack was hardly there today. We had good approaches with the ball. But after four months we still lack the connections. That’s it normal. But the result doesn’t worry us. Any problems we still have, we’ll fix quickly.”

Niklas Wellen: “It was a difficult game – you could see that the Dutch are more experienced. We make too many individual mistakes in the build-up and don’t have any counterattacks. In the second half we got close, but we got a direct break from a counterattack the 1: 4. Today we were shown what we have to work on and we now have the intensive phase of preparation ahead of us.”

Moritz Trompertz: “It was a relatively sobering performance. We were missing a bit in all areas and Holland were clearly superior to us. They countered us mercilessly and punished us for the mistakes we made. Our counter-attack security wasn’t good enough, but Today we were shown a lot of construction sites that we can work on now. We have to work a lot on our mental speed.” 

Game details: