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Hamburger Polo Club’s Lukas Kossel and Johann Wehnert are on top of the world as they helped Germany win the men’s Junior World Cup for the eighth time as they defeated first-time finalists Spain in Chennai on Wednesday.
They overcame a Spanish side that featured Club de Campo de Madrid’s Andrés Medina and Diego Palomero, making it a quartet of stars from this stage who are likely to feature at next Easter’s EHL FINALS in Den Bosch.
A tense normal time ended 1-1 and before Jasper Ditzer’s goalkeeping skills took the final laurels for Germany in the shoot-out..
The nervousness of the teams was evident from the start as Spain were vying for their maiden title in their first final, while Germany wanted to defend their crown.
The focus of both the teams was more on their defence, especially Germany after they took the lead in the 26th minute through Justus Warweg’s field goal.
But Spain managed to breach the German fortress three minutes after half-time as Nicolas Mustaros helped his side draw level at 1-1.
In the shoot-out, Germany were the ones to hold their nerve with Benedikt Geyer, Alec von Schwerin and Ben Hasbach scoring while Ditzer kept out a trio of Spanish efforts for a 3-2 success.
“Spain made it incredibly hard for us and we didn’t have the best of our days in possession and in the moments of transition,” said Germany’s coach Mirko Stenzel after the title win.
“But then, the boys always believed in being able to win in the shootout, which we did.
“It feels amazing, overwhelming as well. We didn’t really think about the seven previous titles.
“We are just celebrating the present one. Incredibly proud of the boys, coming back from probably not the best of the matches during this tournament or this year.”
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