Caribou On The Pitch

They have been there for a number of days already as they get used to the new pitch in Toyko and get adjusted to the time change so they're ready to play, but the Canadian men's field hockey team took to the field at Oi Hokcey Stadium for their first game against the fifth-ranked Germans as the preliminary round gets underway. If we're being totally honest, this game features a superpower in Germany in the field hockey world against an emerging power in Canada whose successes have been big, but less plentiful. This woul be a good test for the Canadians right off the bat if they wanted to make some noise in this tournament!

The four-time Olympic champions in Germany opened the scoring in at the 11-minute mark in the first quarter when Lukas Windfeder converted the penalty corner into the top corner for a goal. Canada was on the defensive for most of the opening frame, but that's to be expected when playing a well-oiled machine in the Germany national squad.

Canada would rally in the opening minute of the second quarter. Flois van Son sent a pass into the middle of the circle that deflected off Gabriel Ho-Garcia, but the ball would land on the stick of Keegan Pereira who flicked a shot past German goalkeeper Alexander Stadler to tie the game at 1-1! Pereira, facing the camera in the image to the right, would record the only shot off a field a goal in this game for Canada on his goal, and that's something that the Canadians know has to improve moving forward if they want to be successful. Goals off transition play are vital for all teams' successes, and the Germans proved that after this goal at the 16-minute mark.

Christopher Rühr, seen to the left, scored goals at the 22-minute mark and the 25-minute mark off excellent rushes by the German team to put them up 3-1. Windfeder would add his second penalty conversion at the 28-minute mark to put Germany up 4-1 before the half, and it was pretty apparent that the Germans were playing at a different level than Canada after that Pereira goal seemingly woke them up. Canada would need an inspired second half to make a game out of this against Germany once they returned from the halftime break.

Germany's second-half performance was much less about offence than it was defence as they simply turned Canada away time and time again while generating their own chances off the transition play. Martin Haner would eventually score off a penalty corner in the 44th minute to put Germany up 5-1, but the suffocating defence that the Germans showed was all the evidence one needed to know they're a field hockey superpower.

A couple of late goals by Niklas Bosserhoff and Mats Grambusch at the 59th and 60th minutes, respectively, gave Germany the 7-1 victory over Canada in the opening game as they outshot the Canadians 22-2 in the match. Needless to say, Canada will likely review the game film and work on some adjustments as they get ready for Great Britain on Monday in Tokyo. It should be noted that Great Britain won their opening 3-1 over South Africa, so things don't get any easier for Canada moving forward.

It should be noted that while the score on the scoreboard and the difference in the shot totals were extreme between Canada and Germany, the Canadians still had some excellent performances. Goalkeeper Antoni Kindler was exceptional at times in keeping the Germans from making the score look worse, and the Canadians did show some good passing and movement when in the offensive zone. While that passing and movement didn't result in shots against the fifth-ranked team on the planet, there are good things on which the Canadians can build.

In other games, Pool A saw Australia defeat Japan 5-3, India top New Zealand by a 3-2 score, and Spain and Argentina finish in a 1-1 draw. Pool B saw the Brits down the South Africans 3-1 as mentioned above, and Belgium defeated the Netherlands by a 3-1 score as well.

The women's side of the tournament saw two Pool A games finish as Netherlands downed India by a 5-1 score while Ireland defeated South Africa 2-0. It should be noted that the Indian women held the first-overall nation in the world to a 1-1 draw through 33 minutes before finally succumbing to the waves of attacks sent by the Dutch. They might be a tough out in this tournament after most people gave them little chance to medal!

The action continues on Sunday! Check your local listings for when games are being broadcast so you can tune in and catch some fun summer hockey action!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!