Deutsch­land Cup 2022: Austria suffer defeat against hosts Germany

“In my opinion, we played well to very well for 50 of the 60 minutes, matched the Germans' intensity and pace in every respect, and were on an equal footing,” reflected Head Coach Roger Bader, who was not dissatisfied with his players' performance.

In front of 3.310 spectators, both teams started the game with tremendous energy. Right from the outset, they battled physically hard for the puck, with the pace extremely high.

The hosts initially looked slightly more dangerous in the offensive zone, putting Austria under pressure. In the 6th minute, Andreas Eder converted a cross-ice pass and slid the puck over the line for 1:0. The emotion in the game was evident when David Maier and Daniel Schmölz dropped the gloves on the ice, earning both players a game misconduct penalty.

Simeon Schwinger was sent to the penalty box for tripping in the 17th minute. Germany made use of the power play, hemming Austria into their own zone before Tobias Eder made it 2:0.

The second ten minutes of the opening period were also, in the view of Roger Bader, the only phase in which Germany dictated proceedings: “We hurt ourselves by being too complicated with the puck, playing too many diagonal passes and trying one dribble too many. That led to turnovers, allowing Germany to gain momentum.”

Red-white-red attributes

In the second period, the young red-white-red team once again displayed the attributes that define them: early forechecking, putting the opposition under pressure with high pace and driving directly to the net.

They created several high-quality chances, at times being denied by bad luck and the German netminder. David Kickert, in Austria's net, also made several fine saves, but had to concede the third goal in the 29th minute.

Austria came close to making it 1:3 time and again over the final 30 minutes, battling fiercely for their first goal of the game. In the end, it remained 3:0 to the hosts, who now lead the table with five points ahead of Denmark (3), Austria (2) and Slovakia (2).

Roger Bader: “In my view, a three-goal difference was not justified. Nevertheless, Germany's victory was deserved.”

Just 15 hours later, Denmark await on Sunday morning at 11:00 in Austria's final game of the Deutschland Cup. “Of course, that is a major physical strain, but we were aware of that beforehand. Denmark are another very good team, and that is exactly what we want – we want to be challenged by good opponents. This task will again demand a very disciplined performance from us, and I hope we can recover well by tomorrow,” said Roger Bader.

Deutschland Cup 2022 result:

Germany vs. Austria 3:0 (2:0,1:0,0:0)
Sat, 12 November 2022, 17:30
Germany goalscorers: Andreas Eder (6), Tobias Eder (18/PP1), Danjo Leonhardt (29)

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