The Germany national field hockey team represents Germany in international field hockey. The team have won the 2006 Men's Hockey World Cup in Mönchengladbach, Germany. The team is currently coached by former women's coach Markus Weise, who was appointed on November 6, 2006.
The team caused an upset in the 2002 Men's Hockey World Cup when they defeated Australia 2-1 with striker Olivier Domke scoring the winner after Germany came back from being 1-0 down. After this period the Germans went through a transition period, finishing lowly in the 2003 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy and the 2004 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy with several inexperienced players in their squad. Coach Bernhard Peters was looking to nurture the players for the World Cup, and was successful as the Germans won the 2006 Men's Hockey World Cup, defeating Australia 4-3 in a thrilling final. Players like Christopher Zeller, Moritz Fürste and Timo Wess performed exceptionally well. Bernhard Peters left the team in order to pursue a career in football and is now a staff member at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. The new team coach was Markus Wiese. Success at the 2007 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy and a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics followed this. Germany headed into the 2010 Men's Hockey World Cup with a largely young and inexperienced squad, with players like Zeller missing, but have reached the final of the World Cup after strong performances throughout the tournament. In the final, they were defeated 2-1 by Australia.
Germany have one of the best youth teams in the World, and have won the most Under 21 World Cups. The side has seen constant changes because of the lack of money involved in Hockey. Germany are without the services of Zeller for the World Cup, because he is pursuing a degree in law. Current captain Maximilian Müller has also said that he will concentrate on studies after the 2010 World Cup
Germany have played in the annual 2011 Hockey Champions Trophy held in Auckland, New Zealand. The team have compete in pool B along with Korea, Netherlands and host nation New Zealand. The team finished fifth in the tournament.
Read more about Germany National Field Hockey Team: Current Roster
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