Black Caps stunned Germany early on in the fourth minute only when Sam Lane converted the penalty corner. Boosted by the goal, Kiwi colts continued to dominate the play till 24th minute when Tim Herzbruch drew level for Germany with a fine field goal.
Watching New Zealand giving tough time to six-time champions Germany has could give some sleepless nights to teams who are going to play them in the coming days here during the ongoing Junior Hockey World Cup.
The strong German colts used their experience to overcome Black Caps 2-1 after a hard-fought 70 minutes. However, the loss has not dampened the spirit of Kiwis colts but has rather made them believe in their potential while going into the crucial last Group C game against Spain, after the opening game win over Japan 1-0 a day early.
Black Caps stunned Germany early on in the fourth minute only when Sam Lane converted the penalty corner. Boosted by the goal, Kiwi colts continued to dominate the play till 24th minute when Tim Herzbruch drew level for Germany with a fine field goal. Both teams went into the breather locked one goal apiece. The second half was again a neck to neck fight for both teams as Germans tried to keep ball possession in their bid to frustrate Black Caps.
The strategy paid off as Anton Boeckel's field goal put the champion team in lead for the first time in match. This was enough for the Germans to dictate the pace in the remaining time despite Black Caps quick interceptions on many occasions. But Germans kept the lead till the final hooter and took their tally to six points from two games. They had earlier defeated Spain 2-1 in their tournament opener.
Germany will now take on minnows Japan on Sunday.
In the other Pool C encounter, Spain defeated Japan 4-1 in an one-sided game. Marc Serrahima (8th minute), Lucas Alcalde Garcia (24th & 37th) and Pablo de Abadal (25th) were the goal scorers for the winners, while Atsushi Sugiyama gave a moment of celebrations for Japan with his 48th minute strike.
The other two favourite teams, Belgium and Holland had similar one-sided victories on Friday. Belgium blanked Egypt 4-0 with the goals from Phillipe Simar (18th), Henri Raes (27th), Alexandre van Linthoudt (46th) and Alexis Lemaire (60th). While Holland routed last-minute entrant Malaysia 7-2 in Pool B.
Belgium will now take on Holland in one of the most anticipated matches of the tournament while Egypt and Malaysia will fight it out in the battle of minnows.
The best match of the day in Pool A, however, was between minnows Austria and Argentina which ended in a 1-1 draw.
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