Defending champions Belgium will take on Germany in the final of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup.
In entertaining semi-final contests on Friday, Germany made a sensational comeback after being two goals down to beat Australia 4-3, courtesy a hat-trick from drag-flicker Gonzalo Peillat, while Belgium edged past the Netherlands 3-2 in a shootout after regulation time ended 2-2.
Peillat scored from penalty corners in the 43rd, 52nd and 59th minutes, while ‘Player of the Match’ Niklas Wellen (60th) struck with just a few seconds left in the game to stun Australia, who squandered a 2-0 half-time lead at the Kalinga Stadium.
Jeremy Hayward (12th), Nathan Ephraums (27th) and Blake Govers (58th) scored for Australia, who will now play for the bronze medal on Sunday.
This was Germany’s second comeback win after being 0-2 down against England as well in the quarter-final match. They had scored twice in the last three minutes to equalise and then beat England in the penalty shootout to enter the semi-finals.
Two-time champions Germany recorded their first entry into the final after the 2010 edition in New Delhi, where they had finished runners-up. They had won the silver medal in 1982 as well before winning the titles in 2002 and 2006.
Germany also took revenge for their 1-3 loss to Australia in the Tokyo Olympics semi-finals.
For three-time champions Australia, this was their second consecutive failure to enter the final. They had lost to the Netherlands at the same stage in 2018, finishing with a bronze after consecutive titles in 2010 and 2014.
In the other semi-final, Seve van Ass, Terrance Pieters and Thijs van Dam failed to convert in the shootout as the Dutch lost to the Belgians.
In regulation time, Tom Boon and Nicolas de Kerpel scored for Belgium, while Jip Janssen scored both the goals for the Netherlands.
Written with inputs from PTI
Kin support in loss
Bhubaneswar: Disappointment was writ large on the faces of Dave Ephraums and Petra as Australia lost the semi-final against Germany 3-4 in the dying moments of the game here. “Luck did not favour us. We had expected at least a penalty shootout as we dominated the match for the most part,” said Dave, a station master in Melbourne’s South Yarra and father of Australia No.7 Nathan Ephraums.
The couple came all the way to Odisha to cheer on their son and his teammates. Petra, a chef, also crestfallen, said: “Good luck to Germany. I don’t have words to express my feelings. I need to support my son and the entire team at this point. A game is a game. Someone will lose and someone will win. We have to accept it.”
SUBHASHISH MOHANTY
