Germany and Japan will look to seal their spots in the semifinals without mathematics coming in their way when they take on the Czech Republic and Chile, respectively in the final Pool A matches of the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers here on Tuesday.
Valentin Altenburg’s Germany, the highest-ranked team in the competition, faces an already knocked out Czech side in the first match of the day, needing only a point to go to the next stage.
Die Danas, the pre-tournament favourite, was expected to be largely untroubled in the group stage but it came across a resolute Japanese team on Sunday which forced it to settle for a 1-1 draw. Germany had 14 Penalty Corners in the match but could not convert any of them.
However, Altenburg felt the game against Japan was exactly what his team needed. “This game helps us a lot because if we would have converted three-four penalty corners in the first half, we would have had a rather easy win but the resistance is what makes us stronger and we will have a lot of resistance going forward in this tournament. We were prepared for it and very thankful to Japan that they made it so difficult,” said the German coach after the draw.
The Czech Republic, ranked 25th in the world, might not present the same level of resistance against a high-pressing German team. The Czech side has conceded eight goals and scored none in its two matches so far.
On the other hand, Japan’s opponent, Chile, is high on confidence after an amazing 6-0 win over the Czechs. The Pan American Games bronze medallist, led by experienced Argentine coach Sergio Vigil, had an intense two-hour training session on Monday at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh AstroTurf Stadium. The South Americans focussed a lot on the aerial passes with Vigil getting the ball kids to join them and pretend to be the opponents trying to intercept the same. Chile also went through its PC variations. In the last five fixtures between the two, no team has scored more than one goal and another close battle is expected.
Chile has never qualified for the Olympics. To keep its hopes alive of reaching the semifinals and getting closer to achieving the dream, it has to beat The Cherry Blossoms.
Schedule (Pool A)
Germany vs Czech Republic - 12PM IST
Chile vs Japan - 2:30PM IST
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