Sport Out in the World Cup quarterfinals
Germany loses after a big fight against Switzerland
Status: 18:48 | Reading time: 3 minutes
Out in the World Cup quarter-finals – Germany is eliminated after a big fight against Switzerland
Source: AFP/JOE KLAMAR
The German national ice hockey team narrowly lost to Switzerland after a great fight and was eliminated from the World Cup quarter-finals. After a strong World Cup, despite the initial disappointment after the defeat against the favorites, the positives outweigh the negatives.
This time, Switzerland was too clever. The Swiss prevented the German national ice hockey team from pulling off another World Cup coup and reaching the semifinals for the third time in four years. The team of national coach Harold Kreis lost the World Cup quarterfinals in Ostrava 1:3 (0:2, 1:0, 0:1) against their arch-rivals, against whom they had beaten in 2021 and last year and reached the semifinals.
Switzerland thus took revenge for its quarter-final exit in 2010 and its defeat in the deciding game at the 2018 Olympics. Switzerland had been the favorite in all of the games. This time, they also brought six NHL players, including top star Roman Josi from the Nashville Predators, onto the ice for the first time.
Switzerland celebrates reaching the World Cup semi-finals
Source: AFP/JOE KLAMAR
Dominik Kahun (32nd minute) from SC Bern scored the only German goal in the majority. Christoph Bertschy (8th/60th), even outnumbered and with a hit into the empty German goal, and NHL top striker Nico Hischier (17th) scored the goals for Switzerland, who consistently exploited weaknesses in the German defense. The negative highlight was a bad knee check by the Swiss Andrea Glauser against JJ Peterka shortly before the first German goal, which was only punished with a two-minute penalty.
Switzerland dominates the first third
“We can’t let the Swiss power play on the ice,” said Coach Kreis, who secured Germany’s first World Cup medal in 70 years last year by reaching the final in Tampere, Finland. The respect for power defender Josi or New Jersey’s Hischier was extremely great. After just 13 seconds, Patrick Fischer’s team had the advantage. The German defense, which has been shaky throughout the tournament so far, survived the first phase of pressure from the favorites.
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As was the case against the top nations USA (1:6) and Sweden (1:6) in the preliminary round, the German defense threatened to be torn apart by the Detroit Red Wings without world-class defender Moritz Seider. It was too easy for Josi & Co. to score goals.
Dominik Kahun (l.) scored the only German goal in the World Cup quarter-finals
Source: AFP/JOE KLAMAR
And then the district team slipped up in front of 6,583 spectators, in what had been their strongest power play up to that point. With one more player on the ice, the German team lost the puck, Bertschy countered the defense and scored to make it 0:1. NHL goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer of the Seattle Kraken did not look good. The keeper was also lucky when a shot hit the post just a minute later.
Germany fights its way back into the game
NHL star Hischier made it 0-2: The striker benefited from opponent Lukas Kälble breaking his stick and easily shot the puck in. “We have to get out of the back easier and quicker,” said defender Kai Wissmann after the first 20 minutes on MagentaSport. Nice Sturm demanded “nasty goals” on ProSieben.
The Germans only started putting pressure on the Swiss goal at the end of the second period when they were in the majority. Swiss goalkeeper Leonardo Genoni hardly had to intervene for a long time against the German offense, which had been so accurate up to that point. 34 goals after the preliminary round is a World Cup record for a German national team.
The hard foul on NHL striker Peterka brought the previously unimaginative vice world champion back into the game. The Swiss, who had been so superior until then, suddenly stopped playing ice hockey. Memories of Riga 2021 came flooding back. At that time, the DEB selection was behind 0-2 after the first third and ultimately won after a penalty shootout. “Now everything is possible,” said Kahun at MagentaSport.
The German striker’s hopes did not come true. The DEB selection tried to build up pressure, but could not beat Genoni in the Swiss goal and had to admit defeat to Switzerland in the knockout round for the first time since the 1992 World Cup in Prague. Bertschy made the decision when Germany took Grubauer out of the goal in favor of another field player.
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