IRELAND V GERMANY PRE-MATCH BREAKDOWN!
Saba and Saba To Go’s Resident Hockey Superfan Ruthy’s Pre Match Thoughts!
It’ll be another early alarm call for any Ireland-based Green Army supporters as the Irish Women’s Hockey Team take to the pitch at 4.15 am (Irish Time) tomorrow against world number 3 side, Germany. Looking to bounce back from a resilient defensive performance on Monday, finally ending as a 4-0 loss against The Netherlands, Sean Dancer’s side will be eager to get something from this fixture.
It was June 2018 when Ireland last recorded a win over Germany and January 2020 when they met last, but both sides know each other well with Captain Katie Mullan and striker Deirdre Duke both having spent time with German clubs.
Germany who currently sits in second in Pool A on 6 points has already recorded a gritty 2-1 win over GB and recorded a 2-0 win against India. Following the morning fixture against Ireland, the Germans will have back-to-back fixtures against South Africa (16) and The Netherlands (1) on Friday and Saturday respectively. Ireland, currently 4th in the pool with 3 points following their debut Olympic win against South Africa on Saturday last, will be hunting points from India (10) on Friday with a big fixture the following day against world number 5 and current Olympic Champions Great Britain on Saturday. With a top-four placing in the pool required to progress to the knock-out rounds, points are crucial for the Green Army.
No doubt Dancer’s Green Army will have spent the last 48 hours with a strict recovery regime, with a focus on further progressing their set pieces, attacking structures, and identifying the gaps in the German side.
An early start again, but my alarm is already set and I am confident that whatever the result it is going to be an end to end game full of action and hopefully lots of goals for the Green Army. Tune in at 4.15am on RTE2!
