NEW DELHI: World and Olympic champion Germany are aiming to make the World Cup final by avenging a loss to England in the title encounter of last year’s European Cup, while Australia face three-time winner the Netherlands in the other semifinal. Germany, aiming for a third straight field hockey World Cup title, face England, which is into its first field World Cup semifinal since losing to Australia at that stage in 1986. Matthias Witthaus, Moritz Furste and Jan-Marco Montag are the only players from the 2006 champion team left in Germany’s squad that went on to win the Olympic title at Beijing in 2008. But once again, Germany have proved that it can produce a young team capable of carrying on the legacy of past World Cup victories. “I never had any preference about our semifinal opponent,� said German coach Markaus Weise, whose pre-Cup expectation was of reaching the final.
[+]