From the dream of the fifth Olympic medal: Germany's hockey ladies return from summer games in Tokyo without precious metal. The team of national coach Xavier Reckinger lost on Monday in the quarter-finals against Argentina with 0: 3 (0: 2) and was eliminated. Agustina Albertarrio in the 27th minute, Maria Jose Granatto (29th) and Valentina Raposo (52nd) scored the deserved victory for the superior South Americans. “The disappointment is great. It will take a while before we can digest that, ”said Coach Reckinger. "We could not implement our plan and have not found any solutions."
The DHB women were last without a medal at the Olympics in London in 2012.
In 2016 in Rio there had been bronze, before that there were two silver medals (1984, 1992) and one gold medal in Athens in 2004. Precious metal was also the goal in Tokyo - but it shouldn't be.
“It didn't go together.
We didn't expect that we would be standing next to us, ”said Lisa Altenburg.
“We lacked the courage and conviction.
This is a day that one would like to erase from memory. "
The German team, which had finished the preliminary round in second behind world champions Netherlands, fell on the defensive right at the beginning of the game.
Argentina dominated the action and barely let the DHB women, who played all in black, develop in the humid heat of over 30 degrees.
Germany had little to counter the offensive force of the South Americans. After all, the defense was initially safe, so that even three penalty corners in the first quarter were survived without damage. Argentina also stayed on the trigger in the second quarter. Goalkeeper Julia Sonntag had to use all her skills a few times to avoid falling behind. In the German game, on the other hand, a lot seemed random. Dangerous attacks: Nothing.
So it was only a matter of time before the two-time world champion from Argentina could celebrate for the first time.
Albertarrio completed a nice combination of close range.
Just before the break, Granatto increased.
After the change, the German team came back to the field with more energy and now pressed on the connection.
But the efforts were unsuccessful in the third quarter because the few opportunities were not exploited.
So there was only hope of a successful final spurt, which, however, failed to materialize.
Again and again the German players got stuck on the compact defense of the opponent.
The third goal conceded by Raposo after a penalty corner finally sealed the Olympic knockout of the European Championship runner-up, whose resistance was now finally broken.