Netherlands ace shootout to claim Men's Eurohockey Championships 2021
Netherlands came out on top of a thrilling final between two hockey heavyweights that went all the way to penalty shuttles
Hockey
Netherlands claimed the 2021 Men's Eurohockey Championships after a pulsating 4-1 shoot-out win over Germany following a 2-2 draw after regulation time on Saturday 12 June.
Germany were six seconds from victory, leading 2-1 at the end of the fourth quarter when a Jip Janssen penalty corner goal sent the local fans wild and the game into a shootout at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen, Netherlands.
Dutch 'keeper and Man of the Match Pirmin Blaak was outstanding throughout, holding off a first half German onslaught with a string of spectacular saves, before stopping Christopher Rühr's shootout effort and forcing misses from two others.
Germany started the match brighter and struck first through Rühr on '21 but Robbert Kempermann evened things up just after halftime.
Kempermann somehow managed to get his shot off as he crashed to the ground and the ball flicked off German player Martin Häner's stick to end up in the goal.
When Constantin Staib netted in the 34th minute it looked like Germany would go on to claim their 9th Eurohockey title and further extend their dominance on the competition.
But the Oranje never gave up and drew level six seconds from the end to send the game to a shootout.
Dutch resilience was a theme of this tournament as they won two and drew three matches on their way to lifting the trophy for the sixth time.
In the group stages the Oranje drew 2-2 with Germany in a carbon copy of the final, a full-time scoreline they also shared with defending champions Belgium in the semi-final.
A shootout win over Belgium in the semi-final and another over Germany in the final underlined the Netherlands' never-say-die attitude and they head to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a huge boost in confidence.
Dutch hero Blaak said it was hard to believe amidst the explosion of orange celebrations in the stadium, emphasising a team effort:
"Some people say just don't peak too early this season, but ya, I do what I can, train hard with the team and it was a nice team performance today. You save some and you lose some sometimes."
Substituted just before the goal, Blaak and the rest of the squad on the bench could hardly watch the penalty corner in the dying seconds:
"I watched from beneath a towel, this time it was not on purpose that I was on the bench but we had confidence that Jip Janssen was going to score and it gave us the fight, we were seriously fired-up in the shootout."
The final was a repeat of the Rio 2016 bronze medal match which Germany won as both teams now turn their attentions to Tokyo 2020 in just a few weeks time.
Argentina are defending Olympic champions after they claimed their first ever men's hockey gold medals in Rio five years ago.
The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and GB will be among those aiming to stop the South Americans from defending their title this time around.