Hockey World Cup 2018, Germany v Netherlands: 5 Talking Points from the match

The second round of Pool D action continued at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubhaneshwar as Netherlands and Germany squared off in a mouth-watering clash that finished in a scintillating 4-1 win for the Germans.

At the back of a decimating 7-0 win over Malaysia, Netherlands came into the competition and looked strong on the offense as they made some impressive incisions through Billy Bakker and Mirco Pruijser.

Yet, it was a fantastic run from Valentin Verga on the left flank as his reverse flick threaded the gap between Germany's custodian Tobias Walter and the defender as the Netherlands drew first blood.

An attempt to score in the opening quarter from a penalty corner took a deflection off the post but the Germans converted their second penalty corner as Muller deflected a ball in from Christopher Ruhr to level scores at the brink of half-time.

With both teams failing to score in the third quarter, it was only a matter of time before either team broke free in the final quarter.

The Germans did exactly that as 'Man of the Match' Florian Fuchs created an opening with a penalty corner as Windfeder gave his team the lead with a scorching drive.

In the last ten minutes, the Germans added two more goals as the Dutch were left scathing after opening the scoring in the game. Here are the talking points from Germany's return from behind 4-1 win over the Netherlands at the Hockey World Cup 2018.

#5 Tight opening half for both teams

Germany and the Netherlands started off the opening half in fine fashion as both teams made some impressive runs into the scoring area with the midfielders from both teams creating ample opportunities to score.

Verga Valentine's opener seemed to pile the pressure on the Germans. But that did not see them fall back as some top runs from Ruhr and Muller created a penalty corner for the Germans in the final seconds of the second quarter, which was duly converted by Muller with a clever deflection inches away from the goalmouth.

At the final whistle of the first half, the stats hardly titled towards either side as both teams shared the same number of turnovers at 20 while the Netherlands were only slightly ahead with 51% of possession.

#4 Netherlands' inefficiency in converting the penalty corners

The Netherlands failed to find the back of the net after the opening goal

The Dutch were awarded their first penalty corner in the third quarter as Hertzberger's reverse flick took a deflection off Muller in the scoring area to prove as a chance for the Dutch to take the lead.

In their first attempt to score, Tobias Hauke's schoolboy error of talking to a fellow defender while the shot was being taken saw him earning a green card as the Germans were down to two runners as the Dutch lined up for their second shot.

In the next shot, the low ball was deflected off by a confident run from Lukas Windfeder while the fourth attempt was thwarted by a low drive from Tobias Walter, who deflected off the goal to keep the Dutch from going into the lead and more importantly, piled pressure on the opposition.

#3 Barrage of fouls from both sides

The Germans were guilty of two Green Cards

The opening quarter was laden with a whole lot of excitement as both teams, stacked with an array of superstars opted to surge ahead, in an approach to scoring early in the game.

With both teams making impressive runs into the scoring areas, the onus was on the defenders and midfielders to keep their opponents from getting a sneak ahead.

The Netherlands earned the first card of the game as de Geus Jonas picked the first card for a wild foul and just as he was set to make his way back onto the playing arena, the Germans were forced to play with ten men as Tom Grambusch's nudge did not impress the umpire.

With the high-voltage clash tied at 1-1 ahead of the final quarter, the Dutch seemed to ramp up the pressure as Christopher Ruhr took matters into his own hands as he looked to tackle the ball away but got his body in the way as he scampered away on being shown the green card.

#2 Windfeder's scorcher gives Germany the lead

Just as it seemed like both teams would fail to break the deadlock, a fantastic run from Florian Fuchs earned his team a penalty corner, that seemed to be the opportunity that the Germans needed to take the lead.

The Germans, sensing the chance to pile the pressure on the Dutch assembled in the circle and waited in bated breath for the ball to arrive.

As the ball was driven into the center, Windfeder breezed through and with one drive of his stick sent the ball with pace low and into the Dutch goal as he emerged as the hero with a much-needed goal.

The goal served as just the perfect gift to Windfeder as his top outing all through the game created quite a few chances for the Germans to score while his sprinting towards the defensive half also prevented the Dutch from finding the back of the net.

#1 Three goals in the final quarter for Germany

With the score tied on 1-1 ahead of the final quarter, it was only a matter of which team was due to take the upper hand in the final quarter.

Germany certainly looked like the dominating team as the strikers were dished out some fabulous passes while the midfielders' top effort in the final quarter earned them three goals.

Florian Fuchs started Dutch's downfall as he earned a penalty corner early in the last quarter which Lukas Windfeder duly converted.

Only a few minutes later, Pirmin Blaak's deflection was collected by Niklas Wellen, who drilled a ball low into the front of the goalmouth as Marko Miltkau dived to his left and deflected the ball into the net.

To add salt to the wounds, the Germans also earned a penalty stroke in the final few minutes as the ball took a hit on the Dutch defender on the goal line.

The chance was taken by Christopher Ruhr, who lifted the ball with pace into the left top corner as the Germans celebrated their fantastic win.

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