Hockey men are in the final: "We are overjoyed"

tz Hockey men are in the final: "We are overjoyed" 9 hours • 2 minutes reading time Germany's hockey men have reached the final of the Olympic Games for the first time since 2012. They have won all of the last three finals and are sure of silver. Paris - The German players raised their sticks and hugged each other in jubilation: the hockey world champions' mission to win gold at the Olympic Games is close to completion after reaching the final. In the semi-final in Paris, national coach André Henning's team beat India 3:2 (2:1) and will face European champions the Netherlands on Thursday (7 p.m.). Twelve years after their last triumph in London, the next Olympic victory was the goal of the German Hockey Association's men's team from the start. They are already sure of silver. "We are overjoyed," said Niklas Wellen. "It has to be said that we didn't play well. It is a great strength to still win on a not so good day. I think that is what sets us apart." The 29-year-old also explained: "Now we will be happy for an hour, then we will rest and see how we beat Holland." Three years ago, the German team did not win a medal in Tokyo. In the match for third place, after taking a temporary lead against India, they suffered a particularly bitter defeat. In France, they got their revenge thanks to goals from Gonzalo Peillat (18th minute), Christopher Rühr (27th/penalty) and Marco Miltkau (54th). Harmanpreet Singh (7th) and Sukhjeet Singh (36th) were successful for India. DHB selection with a weak start Germany's defense was under pressure from the start and had to fend off many penalty corners at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir. India's captain Harmanpreet Singh fired several dangerous shots at the German goal early on. When a ball deflected, keeper Jean-Paul Danneberg had no chance on the fifth attempt and had to reach behind him. In the first quarter, the Germans were barely able to show off in the offensive with only 34 percent ball possession, and there were too many individual errors. In the preliminary round, Germany had won the group with four wins in five games and then beat Argentina 3:2 in a heated quarter-final thriller. Against eight-time Olympic champions India, Peillat equalized with a powerful shot after a penalty corner. Rühr, in turn, safely converted a penalty. At this point, the narrow lead was quite flattering. The German lead was immediately threatened again at the start of the second half. India was again able to apply pressure through penalty corners, and Sukhjeet Singh equalized in one of these situations. The Asians, who had prevailed against Great Britain in the quarter-final despite being outnumbered for a long time, then positioned themselves deep in their own half. Justus Weigand initially missed the best chance to score the third goal - until Miltkau was successful shortly before the end.