German coach rues absence of key players

One major disappointment at this Champions Trophy has been the poor performance of the once dominant Germany.

The Germans, fielding a very inexperienced side with many senior players talking time off to complete their education or recuperating from injures, have not been able to match the sides of the old.

In fact, the problem has been prevalent for around a year now.  Although they did retain their gold at the 2012 London Olympics and won the EuroHockey Nations Championships, 2014 has been dismal by their lofty standards.

They finished seventh at the World League Finals this January and in May ended sixth at the World Cup as doubts were raised about their once abundant talent supply that kept churning out top players.

At the ongoing Champions Trophy, they’ve looked well below their best, winning just one encounter out of three pool games. The lone victory came against India with the solitary goal coming in the final minute of the match.

Coach Markus Wiese minced no words in assessing the slide. “The problem is that players are not available. While some are injured, some are doing their studies, so I have no choice but to field young players. I just have no senior players who could play for me now.

(Christopher) Zeller and (Jan Philipp) Rabente are injured while (Martin) Haner can’t play. (Maximillan) Muller has ended his career. So that’s my problem. I need some senior players.”