"It seems an easy match but. . .". The voice of German coach Bertie Rauth trailed off as he desperately tried to think of even one reason why a victory for the hosts over Ireland today at the European Nations' Cup Finals in Cologne should be anything but a formality.
"There are no easy matches in Europe," he said, finally. Those attending his press conference, after Germany had beaten the Ukraine 4-1, weren't convinced, not least the Belgian reporter who has seen his side lose 15-0 to the Netherlands and 7-1 to Russia.
Chris Spice, the English hockey performance director, has his doubts too and yesterday was calling for the tournament to be reduced from 12 teams to eight in the future, eliminating the weaker nations who, he claimed, have simply provided meaningless target practice for the big guns in the first week of matches. "It's the old European preference for participation over performance and it's doing nothing to help raise the standards of European hockey at any level," he argued.
In the previous four European finals Ireland would have made the cut suggested by Spice - finishing fifth in 1984, seventh in 1987 and eighth in the last two tournaments - but, barring a drastic change in fortunes in their three remaining pool games, a top-eight finish here is beginning to look beyond them. It has been a bitterly disappointing start to the tournament for Riet Kuper's team (losing 3-2 to the Ukraine and 5-0 to England) having come to Cologne confident of a top four finish in their pool, banking on wins against the Ukraine and the Czech Republic, and possibly even a draw against England or Spain. Ukraine, though, have proved to be the surprise package of the tournament, drawing glowing praise from Rauth after the German game, while England should be in contention for a medal tomorrow week. If, as expected, Germany beat Ireland today then a Spanish victory over the Ukraine this evening would effectively end hopes of that top-four pool finish and leave Ireland in the ninth-12th place play-offs.
In their defence it has to be said that they were drawn in by far the more difficult pool in Cologne. Admittedly, friendly results cannot be taken too seriously but they did at least beat three (Scotland, France and Belgium) and draw with one (Russia) of the nations in Pool A in the last two months.
Those results raised Irish expectations to, perhaps, unrealistic levels, particularly as they came against `second division' nations, where Kuper admits Ireland belong. Some pride can be restored with a gutsy display against the Germans today, in front of a capacity crowd, lifting morale ahead of Monday's game against the Czechs (who they beat twice in recent friendlies) and Spain on Tuesday. Assistant coach Glynis Taylor hasn't ruled out the possibility of Ireland beating Germany today, but her optimism is not shared by any other observers of the team's first two pool games, when, in truth, most of the players' basic skills and technique were inferior to their opponents in every area of the pitch.
