They have settled down in the East Indies, don't feel pressured even in the knockout phase of the tournament, they just really feel at home.

From their preliminary work in the months before and their appearances at the World Cup, the German hockey men naturally derive a right to exist up to and including Sunday.

Sunday is the day of the final in Bhubaneswar.

When the national coach or the captain talks about anticipation of four more knockout games in this championship, it doesn't sound incredibly self-confident or arrogant, but at peace with himself and the maximum goal.

But of course this also created a drop that would make a possible early elimination extremely painful.

This Wednesday (2.30 p.m., live on DAZN), for example, when the quarter-finals against the top team from England are due.

It was generally expected that the German team would reach the round of the top eight after missing out on qualifying for the quarter-finals due to the worse goal difference.

The manner in which they overruled France in the so-called "crossover" round confirmed optimism that this World Cup could become a German Operation Gold.

In the 5-1 victory, the Germans seemed to want to ramp up their operations to full speed right from the start, only to slow down in the second half.

After all, you want to play every two days at the highest level against the world-class teams remaining in the tournament.

close the circle

André Henning attested to his team being "extremely enthusiastic" and one of the best performances in the first half for a long time.

"In the second half we managed the match smartly and saved energy for the quarter-finals.

A strong start to the hot phase of the tournament,” said the national coach.

Mats Grambusch, one of five different goalscorers against France, said after his mature performance: "We want the trophy, that's what we're aiming for." years without winning a major international title.

In 2013, the men's selection of the German Hockey Association (DHB) became European champions, and in the same year the U-21 juniors also won the world title.

In India.

With coach André Henning, as well as Grambusch and a few other players, who now sense the great opportunity to close the circle at the end of their international careers.

Incidentally, the opponents in the U-21 final were France.

The bulk of the French A team on Monday in Bhubaneswar was also fed from the junior team at the time.

Even if the neighbors are not among the leading teams in the hockey world, they have recently benefited from increased national funding with a view to the Olympic Games in Paris next year.

One weakness remains

But that didn't help them against a DHB team that cleverly combined offensive constant pressure with defensive stability and, depending on the situation, power and caution and at half-time through goals from Marco Miltkau (14th), Niklas Wellen (18th), Captain Grambusch ( 23rd) and Moritz Trompertz (24th) comfortably led.

Gonzalo Peillat (59') scored in the second half, just before the French had scored a goal from Francois Goyet (57').

His players have fulfilled the task of the national coach, who created the pretty word creation of “improve oneself into the tournament”.

The only weakness of the Germans at this World Cup is their inefficiency in penalty corners.

There were two goals from penalty corners on Monday – with nine attempts, some of which were almost harmless, as before in the tournament, there is still room for improvement for the big goal.