Make it an exciting final

09/03/2002

AUSTRALIAN coach Barry Dancer said yesterday Germany are the favourites to
lift the title, but when the question was put forward to German coach
Bernhard Peters, he said Australia have the upper hand.
Both coaches were being diplomatic, naturally, but in today's final
Peters and his men will enter the pitch as the overwhelming favourites and
don't be surprised if they hammer six goals past the highly touted
Australians.
"It will be very hard for us tomorrow (today) because Australia have
improved 100 per cent since we last beat them at the Azlan Shah Cup in
August and twice in the Champions Trophy in November in Rotterdam," said
Peters.
The score in the final of the Champions Trophy was 2-1 but the Aussies
have entered the final as the only unbeaten team in the World Cup. And if
they play like they did against Netherlands in the semifinals, they have a
chance of taking the early lead again, but Peters is confident of his
men's ability to come from behind.
"I will not be worried if they (Australia) take an early lead, even 2-0
is not a problem, because my men know how to fight back and win the
match," said Peters.
The German coach was not being overconfident and neither was he arrogant
when he made the statement because Germany's record in the World Cup is
stunning.
The worst finish for Germany was fifth in the 1973 World Cup and they
have since made the semifinals of nine World Cups. The only thing they
have yet to do is lift the title.
Florian Kunz, whose piercing passes from the backline made sure that
Germany reached the final, said that they will enter the field as the
underdogs but emerge with the trophy.
"My teammates are in great shape and we will not give the Australians as
much room as the Dutch gave them in the semifinals. Australia plays total
hockey for 70 minutes, but our man-to-man marking will restrict them,"
said Kunz.
The only problem that Peters foresees is the ability of the Australian
players to sprint with and without the ball.
"They have a team who can run at tremendous speed and so we will have to
restrict their pace, especially in the semicircle because they have the
tendency to take shots from the top of the semicircle," said Peters.
On the format of the tournament, Kunz feels that playing nine matches in
13 days is a little too much.
"I stick by what I said before the tournament, that the FIH did the
right thing by reverting the World Cup format to 12 teams. Sixteen teams
is simply too much because players can get injured easily. There is also
less time to recover," said Kunz.
While the Aussies have no injuries in their team, the Germans have a
handful of injured players, but nothing serious.
But one thing is for sure, both sides play attacking hockey and those
who turn up to watch the final will receive great value for their money.
"We will play to win the match in 70 minutes, so you can expect non-stop
action," said Peters.
(END)