Germany’s hockey players still achieved a medal rank by winning the game for third place. The national coach wants to work through the tournament thoroughly.
In the end, all German hockey players were happy about the bronze medal at the European Championships in Mönchengladbach. “It wasn’t the color we wanted, but it was a wonderful finish,” said captain Nike Lorenz after the 3-0 win over England and third place through goals from Sonja Zimmermann, Charlotte Stapenhorst and Jette Fleschütz.
The team did not achieve their goal of winning the title. “That’s why we’re not satisfied with the tournament either, but we probably showed our best performance today,” said national coach Valentin Altenburg, who announced the next goal even after the first missed opportunity for an Olympic ticket qualify for the Olympics, no matter where and against whom,” said the 42-year-old.
Big celebration party
Beforehand, the 9,000 fans in the hockey park had extensively celebrated the medal win with the players. “It’s so nice that we can laugh again. It’s also nice to have a medal around your neck – better than none,” said Selin Oruz, who failed two days earlier after the bitter 1-0 defeat by Belgium in the semifinals could imagine playing at the European Championship again. “We allowed those emotions and then coming back like this is an incredible strength that will continue to help us in the future,” said the 26-year-old.
“We can be really proud of that. So many people cheered for us, that makes us want more,” said goalkeeper Julia Sonntag, who conceded only one goal in the entire tournament – but that was enough to get eliminated in the semifinals. Sports director Martin Schultze was of course not satisfied with the missed finals, but men’s and women’s national coaches should develop the teams further. “There is no question that we want to retain the two coaches for a long time, even beyond 2024,” said Schultze. Altenburg wants to have worked through the European Championships thoroughly by the time of the Olympic qualifying tournaments from January 11th to 13th. “And then we want to take the last step up with the team.”
Source: Stern
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