JOHOR BARU: Former champions Germany will have a team with full senior-level experience to spearhead their challenge for the 2023 Sultan of Johor Cup. The 2001 champions will be hoping to maintain a winning streak in the SOJC and have named an experienced team. The team is coached by Rein van Eijk. Rein said that the team for the SOJC is almost the final squad for the Junior World Cup. “Our goal is to acclimatise to Malaysia’s weather and fine-tune the team for the Junior World Cup. This tournament offers us the chance to achieve our goals ahead of the more important event in December,” he said. In July the full junior team was fielded in the FIH Pro League against Spain. “We won one match (2-1) but lost the second 3-4. The main thing is that the players had a chance to play at the senior level and have a taste of the action at a higher level. “Thus, the full team has senior-level experience” he added.
This is the second time the Germans are participating in the Sultan of Johor Cup. Germany is the top-ranked team in the SOJC. They have been named second in the FIH World Junior ranking behind Argentina. They are placed in Group A with Australia, Great Britain, and South Africa. They will start their campaign on Oct 28 against South Africa.
Rein said they are excited to start their campaign and were happy to note the quality of the opposition in their group. “We will also have South Africa in our group at the Junior World Cup and this will be a good test for our team. “Australia and Britain are always tough opponents, and we will benefit from their matches,” he said. The Germans have also named 18-year-old Leon Lindermann as a traveling reserve with the team.
Team Germany:
Joshua Onyekwue, Florian Simon, Ben Hasbach, Christian Franz, Jan Cordez, Luis Hoechmer, Hugo von Montgelas, Antheus Barry, Tom Schmit-Didlaukies, Peer Henrichs, Nikas Berendts, Florian Spearling, Matteo Poljaric, Jakob Brilla, Liam Holdermann, Michel Struthoff, Aron Flatten, Paul Glander.