S2H Team

The Netherlands gave Germany a taste of their own medicine before winning their sixth EuroHockey Championship men’s title in front of their own rapturous fans at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen on Saturday.

Jip Janssen equalized from a penalty corner with only nine seconds remaining to level the scores 2-2 and take the final into a shootout where goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak, tactically withdrawn in the final minutes, put in yet another excellent performance.

The Dutch won the shootout 4-1 to deny their arch-rivals a ninth title and the first in eight years.

In the pool match, The Netherlands led 2-0 with two minutes to go but Germany made an astounding comeback to score twice and draw the match. Blaak watched from over the sidelines in that encounter too, but from the sin bin after serving a green card suspension.

Christopher Ruhr shot Germany ahead from a penalty stroke with 21 minutes gone but the hosts restored parity through Robert Kemperman early in the second half.

Germany regained the lead with three minutes remaining with a spectacular goal by Constantin Staib who fooled Blaak with a back-handed jab between his legs.

Then came the last frenetic minute that saw a referral by the Dutch for a penalty stroke turned down and a penalty corner awarded instead.

Janssen provided the magical touch with a drag flick to find the net off Alex Stadler’s pads and give the hosts an even chance for the title.

Blaak , who called his action “stupid” in the pool match, returned to excel under the bar in the tiebreaker.

Defending champions Belgium, beaten in the shootout by the hosts on Friday, got the better of England 3-2 to take third place.

The Dutch and German women meet in the women’s final on Sunday.

Final Standings

1. Netherlands
   2. Germany
   3. Belgium
   4. England
   5. Spain
   6. France
   7. Wales
   8. Russia

Player of the Tournament
Pau Quemada (Spain)

Goalkeeper of the Tournament
Pirmin Blaak (The Netherlands )

Top scorers
Tom Boon (BEL), Sam Ward (ENG) – 6