World Cup champions Germany win penalty shootout against the Dutch
World Cup champions Germany have been on the recovery trail. After a disastrous start, losing to India its initial games, Germany has now been on a better wicket. After holding the Netherlands to a 1-1 draw in the regulation period, it won its FIH Pro League encounter against the Netherlands via the penalty shoot-out to gain a valuable bonus point.
It was another day of top-class action as the FIH Hockey Pro League continued in Amsterdam. The Dutch women produced another dominant performance to thrill the home crowd, claiming a comprehensive 4-1 victory over New Zealand to assume top spot in the tournament standings above Argentina. There was no such joy for the Dutch men, however, who started in commanding fashion but were then edged out 4-1 in a shoot-out after the match finished 1-1.
New Zealand was playing catch-up from early on after Frédérique Matla easily worked her way around the Kiwi defence to fire the ball into the right of goal. Matla began the match level with Olivia Merry on the all-time FIH Hockey Pro League scorers list but the opener against the Black Sticks took her to the top with an impressive 29 goals.
The prolific Matla was also involved in the second goal when she worked her way into the circle and popped the ball through for Pien Dicke to pick it up and slot it in.
The Dutch continued their dominance in the second quarter with Maria Verschoor weaving her way along the baseline and nudging it across for Marente Barentsen to tap it in to take her side into half-time 3-0 up.
There was more of the same after the break, a free hit on the edge of the circle finding Felice Albers who pulled it back for Marijn Veen to provide the finish for the fourth Dutch goal. The Black Sticks managed to pull one back off a counterattack with just under five minutes left in the match, Rose Tynan crossing it in for Hannah Cotter to find the deflection in the air.
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