S2H Team

The Netherlands take on Germany in a clash of Euro heavyweights on Saturday and Sunday with an eye on top spot in the FIH Pro League table currently led by Belgium, the World Cup and European champions.

The Netherlands take on Germany in a clash of Euro heavyweights on Saturday and Sunday with an eye on top spot in the FIH Pro League table currently led by Belgium, the World Cup and European champions.

The Dutch, ranked No. 2 in the world, are second on the table but could well look far ahead when they play their “old foe”. The two teams are in Pool A of the re-scheduled 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and find themselves together at the EuroHockey Championships so the clashes in Amstelveen will be significant looking ahead with victory going a long way towards building a psychological advantage.

The sixth-ranked Germans have yet to achieve some sort of momentum. After all they have played just four matches and are at distant eight place. However, their last encounter against Belgium ended 1-1 after a 1-6 thrashing in the first match and must surely have boosted the sagging morale of the team.

The Dutch have 18 points from nine matches and trail the Belgians who have 32 points but having played 13.

Jeroen Hertzberger, the skilful Dutch forward, is upbeat. A match against is something that the Dutch relish in terms of excitement and there has been a build up of anticipation especially over the long months of waiting.

The Netherlands last played a Pro league against the Belgium Red Lions on 4 November and Hertzberger knows that a good result here will get the Dutch campaign well and truly on track.

He, however, knows that the German defence will take some breaching. “The Germans are a really good team and they know how to defend really well. We will be trying to manipulate their defence to create some chances. Their man marking is very good but we will try to go round them, not through them.”

When it comes to his own team’s grey areas, Hertzberger says that efficiency in front of goal is of paramount importance. “We are on the right track and playing really well but it hasn’t always the case that we have been efficient. We will try to be as sharp as we can be in front of goal.”

The Dutch, one expects, will endeavour to force penalty corners – an area of the game they’re formidable at and in which they expend much time and energy.

Hertzberger reveals that the squad has been itching for action for a pretty long time now and that pent up energy lasting four months could explode on the pitch at the Wagner stadium. In all probability, a high voltage encounter is in the offing in Amstelveen.

“We train every week, we are ready for anything that comes, and we are really excited to play games again. We want to give the hockey world some nice entertaining hockey and usually any match between us and Germany is good, entertaining hockey so I hope we can do that again.”

Women’s teams of the same nations clash earlier in the day.

The match will be played behind closed doors owing to Covid-19 precautionary protocol but television and digital channels will bring the action live to viewers. The women’s matches start at 18.30 IST, the men’s at 21.00 IST.