FIH Pro League Men: Germany vs. Argentina 6:3 (4:1)
What the Danas hadn’t been able to do before, the Honamas showed in the first of two FIH Pro League games on the Ernst-Reuter-Sportfeld (Berlin) against Argentina. Coach André Henning’s team won spectacularly and deserved a 6-3 victory over the South Americans. The goals for the Honamas were scored by Tom Grambusch with a penalty, Raphael Hartkopf after a penalty corner, Thies Prinz twice and Gonzalo Peillat twice after penalty corners. Nicolas Keenan, Thomas Habif and Santiago Tarazona scored for the Argentines.
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Early deficit for the Honamas, but they turn the game
The Honamas started the game enthusiastically, but the guests from Argentina were able to claim the first chance and thus the first goal. Goalkeeper Alexander Stadler was initially able to parry a penalty corner, but he was no longer able to prevent Nicolas Keenan’s rebound (2′). The Honamas were unimpressed by the deficit, always looking for the way forward without penetrating the Argentine circle in a really dangerous way. Argentina goalkeeper Tomas Santiago saved Gonzalo Peillat’s penalty corner two minutes from the end of the period. The keeper also parried the subsequent penalty corner against his former national team colleague. A third penalty corner, this time taken by Tom Grambusch, Argentinian player Nicolas Cicileo was only able to clear the ball with his foot on the line in dire straits. Tom Grambusch confidently converted the seven-meter penalty at the top left of the goal. The hit gave the Honamas a noticeable boost. A penalty corner, a few seconds before the end, was converted by Raphael Hartkopf with a trigger after a Gonzalo Peillat shot to make it 2-1.
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Peillat scores against his former national team
The second quarter started as turbulently as the first ended. Alexander Stadler was just able to parry a rebound from a penalty corner by the Argentines (16′). On the other side, Tomas Santiago was able to fend off a penalty corner from Tom Grambusch (18′). The Honamas kept their feet on the gas – and rewarded themselves. Thies Prinz turned a counterattack by Moritz Trompertz into a 3-1 lead (20′). Now everything was fine with the Honamas. Another penalty corner, of all people, put Gonzalo Peillat into the net to make it 4:1. Michel Struthoff could have made it 5-1 two minutes before half-time, but failed to hit the outside of the post from a tight angle.
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Honamas remain greedy for goals
Even after the break, the Honamas remained the more dangerous team. Thies Ole Prinz narrowly missed the Argentine goal with an Argentine backhand (35′). That same Thies Prinz played the Argentinian defense dizzy for two minutes, but was denied by Tomas Santiago (37′). Gonzalo Peillat, particularly motivated against his former national team, was able to score another penalty corner from the Honamas to make it 5-1 (42′).
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Spectacular final minutes
The Honamas gradually let the game run out. The Argentinians scored their second goal in the 51st minute through Thomas Habif. But the answer from the Honamas was not long in coming. First, Gonzalo Peillat failed with a penalty corner at Argentinian keeper Tomas Santiago, before Thies Prinz converted the rebound to 6: 2 (52nd). Anyone who thought that was it was wrong. The Argentines didn’t give up and closed the gap to 6:3 through Santiago Tarazona in the 56th minute. However, another goal was not much and so it was a well-deserved victory for the Honamas, coached by national coach André Henning.
With the victory, the Germans move up to one point in the FIH Pro League table. On Sunday the Honamas could even overtake the South Americans and jump into second place. The kick-off on Sunday is already at 2.30 p.m.
Comments on the game:
André Henning, national coach:
“We had resolved that everyone should be able to use their individual quality much more. The boys should have more confidence. They are allowed to be courageous and should also make mistakes. We did that fantastically. It was a great game. The manner of this self-confident appearance should be our basis.”
Raphael Hartkopf, Forward:
“I am very happy that we were able to win at this altitude. The three goals conceded were unnecessary and absolutely avoidable. A lot of what we set out to do worked offensively today. We were able to put our individual class on the scoreboard after the last few games hadn’t had many goals. We are very happy today and we want to do more tomorrow.”
Thies Prinz, striker:
“We are all very happy that we scored six goals and showed the fans the hockey that we can and want to play. The three goals we conceded were unnecessary, we were very upset about that. But we can be satisfied, the atmosphere was unbelievably great, it was really fun to play here. Hopefully we’ll do a show like this again tomorrow.”
Game details:
Germany vs ArgentinaMay 21, 2022, Ernst-Reuter-Sportfeld, Berlin |
1st quarter0-1 – Nicolas Keenan (2nd) (PC) 1-1 – Tom Grambusch (14th) (PS) 2-1 – Raphael Hartkopf (15th) (PC) |
2nd quarter3-1 Thies Prinz (20′) 4-1 Gonzalo Peillat (22′) (PC) |
3rd quarter5-1 – Gonzalo Peillat (42′) (PC) |
4th quarter5-2 Thomas Habif (51 ‘) 6-2 Thies Prinz (52’) (PC) 6-3 Santiago Tarazona (56′) |
Detailed statistics on deployment times etc. can be found here: https://tms.fih.ch/matches/15303 |