Hockey World Cup 2023: The semi-finals occured in Bhubaneshwar on Friday. Meanwhile, Germany has pulled off a surprise, knocking out Australia 4-3 and shocking social media. Also, Belgium eclipsed the Netherlands in shootouts.
The 2023 FIH Men's Hockey World Cup continues in the Indian state of Odisha, with the semi-finals taking place at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar. The opening game saw world number one Australia go up against Germany. While the former was the outright favourite to see itself through, the latter pulled off a surprise and battled past the former 4-3. As the Australians were knocked out of the event, social media was sent in shock. It all started in the 12th minute, with Jeremy Hayward putting the Aussies ahead through a penalty corner, followed by Nathan Ephraums doubling it in the 27th before Gonzalo Peillat successfully converted PCs in the 43rd and 52nd to draw level.
Sport is strange - certain teams struggle against specific teams. In Hockey, Aus struggle against Germany but not India, whereas India don't struggle as much against Germany but deeply uncomfortable vs Australia.
Playing styles of opponents & mindset makes such a big difference
While Blake Govers restored Australia's lead in the 58th through another PC, Peillat helped in the Germans' equaliser in the next minute through another PC, resulting in his hat-trick. However, Niklas Wellen's brilliant field goal in the final minute ensured Germany's safe passage into the Final, as the Australians will now have to be contained with a third/fourth-place finish.
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𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝? 🤩
2️⃣-time winners Germany advance into the FIH Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 final with a fine 4️⃣-3️⃣ win over Australia. 🏑
This is their first World Cup final since 2010. | pic.twitter.com/P7gvjJevIJ
The Aussies would face the loser of the pursuing Belgium-Netherlands clash at the same venue later in the evening, with the third-place playoff taking place at this venue on Sunday. The contest saw only a booking in the form of Australia's Tom Craige, green-carded and yellow-carded on the 50th and 60th, respectively.
Dramatic scenes at the Kalinga as Germany seals their place in the Finals with a last-minute goal against Australia 🤩
🇦🇺 AUS 3:4 GER 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/jpnzvHQMSR
In the next match, defending champion Belgium was up against the Netherlands, and it turned out to be a competitive encounter, as it all finished 2-2 in regulation time. It was in the 12th minute when Jip Janssen fired the Dutch ahead through a successful PC before Tom Boon equalised through the same method 15 minutes later.
As it was 1-1 at the half-time break, in the 36th, Netherlands restored its lead Janssen through another PC before Nicolas de Kerpel drew the equaliser again nine minutes later through a sharp field goal. With things moving into the shootout, Florent van Aubel, Arthur de Sloover and Victor Wegnez scored for the Belgians, while Jorrit Croon and Jonas de Geus were the only ones to find the back of the net for the opponent.
The only lad to miss during the shootout for Belgium was Tanguy Cosnys, whereas, for the Netherlands, Thijs van Dam, Terrance Pieters and Seve van Ass failed to score. While the Belgians face Germany in the final on Sunday, the Dutch would be up against Australia for the third-place playoff.