Five-Nations Hockey 2023 Men's Tournament: India vs Germany preview and prediction
The Five-Nations Hockey tournament will witness the Indian men's team take on 2023 FIH World Cup champions Germany in their third match of the competition on December 19.
The Indians, who are ranked a couple of notches higher than the Germans at No. 3, would be desperate to register their first win in Valencia after slumping to two successive defeats.
The Men in Blue went down to hosts Spain 0-1 in their Five-Nations Hockey opener before being comprehensively beaten by Olympic champions Belgium 2-7.
The Belgian Red Lions shot into a 3-0 lead as early as the first quarter, thanks to goals from Cedric Charlier, Alexander Hendrickx, and Thibeau Stockbroekx.
Thibeau, who is a cousin of Belgian veteran Emmanuel Stockbroekx, added to the misery for India by scoring a second time in the 16th minute. Abhishek reduced the deficit for the Indians a couple of minutes later before Tom Boon scored in the 26th minute.
Jugraj Singh scored off a short corner with Belgium going into the long breather with a 5-2 lead. Tom Boon and Alexander Hendrickx were back in business for the Olympic champions in the final quarter, scoring one goal apiece to seal the deal for their side at the Five-Nations Hockey tournament.
While the Indians will take heart from their memorable 5-4 win against Germany in the bronze-medal match of the Tokyo Olympics, the resurgent Germans went on to win the World Cup and are a force to be reckoned with on the world stage.
Germany's resurgent 2023 hockey season
The Germans, who won two back-to-back FIH World Cup titles in 2002 and 2006 followed by a silver in 2010, did not make it to the semifinals in 2014 and 2018.
At the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, the Germans lost to eventual champions Belgium 1-2 in the 2018 World Cup quarterfinals before defeating the Belgians in a shootout to be crowned world champions at the same venue earlier this year.
Since their historic triumph at the 2023 Odisha World Cup, the Germans lost to India by 2-3 and 3-6 margins in the first and second leg games of the FIH Hockey Pro League in Rourkela back in March.
At the same tournament, the Germans defeated Australia 1-0 in the first leg before going down 1-2 in the second.
Germany ended the 2022-23 edition of the FIH Men's Pro League in sixth place, having won 6 of their 16 matches while also earning a couple of shootout wins.
The Five-Nations Hockey match between India and Germany is expected to be a fast and free-flowing game, especially since the Indians are chasing their first win. and will go all out with a high press.
The Germans, for their part, will attempt to catch the Indians on the counter, making for a potentially high-scoring contest.
Prediction for India vs Germany at Five-Nations Hockey Event
India 4 - Germany 3