Germany won the men’s EuroHockey Indoor Championship for the 17th time as they produced a beautifully composed performance to defeat Poland in the final in Leuven, Belgium.
A second half burst of goals saw them shake off the Poles who had to content themselves with a best finish since 2006 in Eindhoven.
In a cagey first half, Paul Doesch eventually broke through the tight-knit block from a corner in the 14th minute after two earlier efforts had ricocheted off the pads of Mateusz Popiolkowski.
Poland, though, have played throughout the tournament with a ruthless counter-attack mode and they tore back when Gracjan Jarzyński ripped a forehand shot into the roof of the net.
Elian Mazkour restored the German lead before the break, however, to give his side a significant psychological boost going into half-time.
Patryk Pawlak’s corner goal did equalise for 2-2 soon after the big break but the game was decided soon after. Mazkour got his second of the game and then Doesch fired in a penalty stroke for a 4-2 lead.
And Henrik Mertgens put the Germans further out of sight early in the fourth quarter. Poland tried as they could but were unable to breakthrough, leaving them to settle for silver for a third time at this level.
In the bronze medal match, Belgium raised the roof at a packed out Sportoase in Leuven with 17-year-old Max Langer turning on the fireworks and marking himself out as a huge talent.
Austria had taken a two-goal lead in the first five minutes but the indoor red lions started to feed off the huge energy in the stadium. Langer tied the game up at 2-2 at half-time with two gorgeous finishes.
Gaetan Dykmans – stepping up as captain in place of the injured Philippe Simar – then put his side in front with a beautiful touch between his legs. Fabian Unterkircher responded first for 3-3 and then 4-4 in the 28th minute with an incredible baseline push to annul a Nicolas Bogaerts goal.
But Dylan Englebert’s corner nudged Belgian ahead once more going into the final quarter. Langer then put the tie into his side’s hands with two more in the closing phases, making 6-4 and then 7-5 as Fülöp Losonci’s late double proved in vain.
Spain took fifth spot, their best outing since 2012 in Leipzig, as they defeated Switzerland 3-1. Manuel Prol scored from their third corner to get them in front at half-time before Juan Muñoz and Ignacio Abajo turned on the style in the second half for a three-goal lead.
Michel Morard’s corner hoped to kickstart a fightback but Spain held for their fourth win of the week and fifth overall.
In the seventh place playoff game, Portugal produced a big turnaround in fortunes against Czechia with a 10-5 win. The Czechs had won the initial group meeting between the sides 10-2 but fell seven goals behind as the Portuguese side romped to a big win and earned their best ever final position in the competition.
Player of the tournament: Anže Fujs (Croatia)
Goalkeeper of the tournament: Matteo Gryspeerdt (Belgium)
Top scorers: Ignacio Abajo (Spain), Fülöp Losonci (Austria) – 12 goals
