Germany targets place in semifinals

Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI: For holder Germany and European champion England, the first aim is to book a berth in the semifinals of the hockey World Cup.

Germany stands the chance to make it a hat-trick of titles. However, considering the fact that the team is going through a re-building phase, the European giant is not making tall claims.

“We do not have any pressure as we are re-building the team. That is why we do not say we will win. A semifinal appearance would be a good finish for us,” German skipper Max Muller said during a media interaction here on Friday.

Germany has only three players — Matthias Witthaus, Moritz Furste and Jan-Marco Montag — who had played in the last edition of the World Cup on home turf. Thus, the side is not over-ambitious.

“It will take at least one to two years to build the team. We lost a lot of finals in the last couple of years. But I guess these are all part of the learning process,” Muller, playing his first World Cup, said.

Muller, however, said that a good start could give the team a decent chance of making the finals.

“It is difficult to say which teams will be in the semis. At least six or seven teams are capable of making it,” he said.

England’s Barry Middleton said since his side was ranked sixth in the world, a last-four appearance would be a satisfactory result.

“After being the European champion, we came sixth in the Champions Trophy. So, we do not feel the pressure. If we play well, it will be realistically possible for us to make the semifinals,” he said.

New Zealand skipper Phillip Burrows said his side, which topped the Champions Challenge tournament in Argentina, was eyeing at least a top-six finish. He did not endorse the view that his team would suffer because of the absence of key striker Simon Child, who pulled out of the event because of the security environment.

Like the European teams, Burrows was happy with the security.

“The security is great and everyone is happy,” he said.