Germany: U21World Cup Off To A Winning Start

The U21 male national team successfully kicked off the World Cup in Malaysia. In an exciting game against South Africa, national coach Rein van Eijk’s team ended up winning 5-3. Florian Sperling was named player of the game. Tomorrow (December 6th, 2023) at 9:00 a.m. German time, the Eagles will face France in the second group game.

1st half

The German team had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Finally the Junior World Cup again and national coach Rein van Eijk’s team started the game very attentively on defense. After a good two minutes, Michel Struthoff had the first shot, which goalkeeper Gianluca Virissimo parried. But just two minutes later, Tom Schmidt-Didlaukies took Germany’s first penalty corner. Paul Glander stepped up and, with a bit of luck, gave the Eagles the lead. A start that Rein van Eijk and his young national team should be very happy with. They were the much more alert and hard-working nation, which was also reflected on the scoreboard in the tenth minute. Florian Sperling increased the score to 2-0 from a German perspective. The first quarter ended with no serious chance for the South Africans to score and with a highly concentrated German U21.

The second quarter brought the first chance for South Africa. Joshua Onyekwue-Nnaji immediately showed his strength and parried the attempt with a brilliant save. The Eagles were not impressed by the first shortfall of the tournament and continued to create shots and circle passes on an assembly line. In the 24th minute, South Africa managed another attack, which led to the goal. David Tshebi hit the Argentine backhand from a tight angle. Liam Holdermann didn’t put up with that and in direct response increased the score to 3-1 from a German perspective. This is how the first half ended and national coach Rein van Eijk’s team went into the dressing room with a well-deserved lead.

22454 WP7 5737 - Germany: U21World Cup Off To A Winning Start - The U21 male national team successfully kicked off the World Cup in Malaysia. In an exciting game against South Africa, national coach Rein van Eijk's team ended up winning 5-3. Florian Sperling was named player of the game. Tomorrow (December 6th, 2023) at 9:00 a.m. German time, the Eagles will face France in the second group game. — Photo credits:
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2nd half

The second half began with the first penalty corner for South Africa. Onyekwue-Nnaji didn’t have much trouble and kicked the ball out of the goal. The game now seemed a little more open than in the first half and Germany didn’t get a shot on goal for a long time. In the 38th minute there was another shortfall and in the 39th penalty corner for South Africa. Jaydon Brooker shot the ball at the German goal with full force. Barry deflected the shot and it was only 2-3 from South Africa’s point of view. The Eagles recovered from this brief shock and first won a penalty corner and then a 7-meter one in the 41st minute. Captain Matteo Poljaric led by example and increased the score to 4:2. With this lead we went into the final quarter of an hour.

The fourth quarter started with a penalty corner for Rein van Eijk’s team. But Virissimo kept the South African box clean for the time being. It went back and forth and South Africa in particular didn’t want to admit defeat. In the 50th minute, Luis Hoechemer was shown a yellow card and Joshua Onyekwue-Nnaji had to save another penalty corner. Germany came under a lot of pressure again and South Africa scored the next goal in the 53rd minute to make it 4-3 through Hans Neethling. In the final phase the pace increased again. Would the U21s maintain this lead over time? On defense, they threw everything into the duels and were usually one step faster than the opponent in their own shooting circle. But in the 58th minute, another penalty corner for South Africa could not be prevented. The first wave of the German team showed full commitment and ran the penalty corner. South Africa changed their goalkeeper for the final minutes and Ben Hasbach put the finishing touches in the 59th minute. He held his bat to a cross and completed the opening win at the U21 World Cup.

Voices about the game

Rein van Eijk, national coach:
“It was a very hot and hard-fought victory. We were surprised by the courage of the Africans and the heat in Kuala Lumpur. In the second half we didn’t have enough control of the ball, so the game became very wild and South Africa came back into the game. We started the game very well and led 2-0 after the first quarter. Nevertheless, I have to say to the team that we fought well for each other. The first game is always exciting. We can definitely stop or change the things that didn’t work today. We are looking forward to the next game against France where we would like to have more control of the game.”

Jakob Brilla:
“We started well and played convincingly. Then we slowed down a bit at times and were all very exhausted from the heat. But in the end we came back to the tournament with an overall good start. The first win – that’s what makes you want it.”