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The Slovak hockey representatives are determined to fight for the promotion to the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games in Beijing and will do their utmost to succeed.
They tuned in for Tuesday’s duel with Germany (5.10 CET) with a triumph in the final group stage match with Latvia (5: 2) and they believe that they will transfer their shooting form and good performance in defense. The winner of the qualifying match will face the USA in the quarterfinals.
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Coach Craig Ramsay’s charges did not have a successful start to the Olympic tournament in Beijing, when they lost to the Nordic opponents in the first two matches. At first they lost to Finland 2: 6 and then they were not enough for Sweden (1: 4).
In both matches, they shot the opponents, but they paid for a very weak ending and also many individual mistakes, which the tournament favorites punished mercilessly. Before the final performance in the C-group, the players held a joint meeting and it celebrated success.
After an improved performance, they defeated the Latvians, prevailing throughout the match. “However, the Latvians were slightly lighter rivals than the Finns and Swedes, who are favorites here. I think we played the same two matches in the same way, but we have to avoid those mistakes, ” the attacker warned Tomáš Jurčo.
The Slovaks have a slightly favorable balance with Germany, winning 35 out of 64 matches, one ending in a draw and 28 pulling for a shorter end. The score also speaks in their favor in a ratio of 158: 143. They played the last duel in the venue of the Olympic Games, but it did not have the parameters of a proper preparatory meeting. He played for 2×20 minutes, plus another five minutes in a 3 on 3 format, Ramsay’s charges lost 3: 5 in it.
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“It was not a real match, so we will follow the way they played in the tournament itself. The Germans play fast hockey, they will attack, collide on guardrails and are constantly active. So we expect a tough fight, “ said the captain Marek Hrivík.
The last regular duel was played by the teams last year at the German Cup in Krefeld, where the home team won 4: 1, the previous two matches were won by Slovakia in the spring of 2021 in Piešťany 2: 1 and 4: 3 after the raids. In the big tournaments, the countries last met at the 2019 World Championships in Košice, the Slovaks lost just 2: 3 at home, when they failed to finish, and the Germans decided with two goals in the final two minutes.
Slovakia’s last victory at the World Cup dates back to 2013, when it won 3: 2 in the basic group in Helsinki. The countries also have a rich history of the Olympics. The Slovaks lost to Germany 0: 3 at the pre-tournament in Salt Lake City 2002, in Nagano 1998 in the battle for 9th place 2: 4 and four years earlier in Lillehammer in the group for 5.-8. they won the crossbar 6: 5 after extra time.
Now the Slovaks can move the triumph to the top eight of the tournament. “Everyone knows that, we don’t have to talk about it. If we play our hockey and without downtime, we definitely have a chance to beat the Germans. Well, we have to play for 60 minutes. I know it’s a dull phrase, but certainly a very precise name for what we need. There are certain stages where we have outages and that costs us the whole match, ” he said Jurčo.
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The Germans did not dazzle too much in the basic group. At the beginning, they lost to Canada 1: 5, then narrowly defeated the home outsiders 3: 2 and then lost to the same results of the USA. The most productive player of the team is the three-point Dominik Kahun (1 + 2), against Slovakia the experienced Marko Nowak will return to the defense, who was injured in the opening duel with Canada and missed the other two matches in the A-group.
“The Germans have been playing very good hockey in recent years, they were in the finals at the last Olympics, they also played well at the World Championships in Riga. They are good on the offensive, they have great defenders, we could push through there at our speed. They also have strength on the goalkeeper’s post. He is a very good opponent. We will try to keep our games. I will count on the effectiveness of the previous match to continue, “ stated Ján Pardavý.
According to the assistant coach, the line-up should remain almost identical to the one from the match with Latvia: “99 percent.” Patrik Rybár could have a chance in the goal. “By stepping in and holding us against the Swedes and also against the Latvians, he had two – three really key interventions at 1: 1 and 3: 2, so he definitely asked for a place in the squad. But this is up to Jan Lašák, “ he said Sorry with the proviso that the team is in good health in addition to small injuries.
However, the start of defender Marek Ďalog, who is recovering from an injury, is still questionable. It was to be decided on Monday night.
Quarterfinal Playoffs (Tuesday, February 15, 5.10 CET, National Indoor Stadium)
Expected reports:
SR: Rybár (Konrád) – Čerešňák, Tchaikovsky, Marinčin, Rosandič, Kňažko, Gernát, Nemec – Takáč, Hrivík, Cehlárik – Jurčo, Hudáček, Pospíšil – Kelemen, Krištof, Zuzin – Regenda, Roman, Slafkovský – Daňo (questionable: Ďaloga)
Germany: From the birches (Niederberger) – Nowak, M. Müller, Holzer, Wagner, Abeltshauser, J. Müller, Brandt, Bittner – Plachta, Kahun, Rieder – Pföderl, Loibl, Noebels – Tiffels, Hager, Ehliz – Kühnhackl, Krämmer, Bergmann
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