Delightful duel
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Ice Hockey World Cup: Can Germany beat Canada?
Top defender Moritz Cedar during practice. Photo: Monica Skolimowska / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa
Riga The German ice hockey team looks forward to their third appearance in the World Cup in Riga. A surprise is expected against the top nation Canada – similar to a very special game from three years ago.
Germany’s national ice hockey team is aiming for a World Cup coup against Canada today (7.15 pm / game 1). Two wins so far in Riga have boosted confidence.
“We’re going into the game with a lot of hope,” said top defender Moritz Cedar: “We don’t want to hide. We want to win the match, there’s no question.”
Starting position: With six points, the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation for the targeted quarter-final qualification is going well. 9: 4 against Italy and 5: 1 against Norway was nothing more than a mandatory victory.
Rival: Canadians compete with rows of NHL players, but with a more unknown team than usual. “North Americans may have more question marks than usual,” national coach Tony Soderholm said. In fact, Canadian players are already under a lot of pressure after just two matches. After a surprisingly losing opening game against Latvia (0: 2), they lost against the United States with 1: 5.
Memory: It was fantastic when Germany defeated Canada 4: 3 in a game of the century to enter the finals of the 2018 Winter Games and achieved Olympic silver. In PyeongChang, now unlike the World Cup, there were no NHL players. The German World Cup victory against Canada was last made in 1996 with a 5–1 win in Vienna.
It says Captain Moritz Möller: “We can be very proud of the performance we have done so far. We are a great team. We value and like each other. I think that is the key. Of course we want to defeat Canada now. “
Perspective: There is a free Tuesday for the Germans after the third preliminary round game. Then it goes against Kazakhstan on Wednesday, surprised by two wins so far after penalty shootouts against Latvia and Finland.
© DPA-Infocom, DPA: 210523-9498183 / 3
