Bhubaneswar, Dec 2 (UNI) Defending champions India are set to take on the six-time winners Germany in the semifinal of the FIH Hockey Men's Junior World Cup here at Kalinga stadium on December 3.
The hosts defeated Belgium 1-0 in the quarterfinal match to storm into the last four. India extended their all-time head-to-head record against Belgium to 5-0 in the tournament.
India chief coach Graham Reid highlighted Germany's strengths, saying, "Germany have won this tournament more than any other team in the world. You saw Masi Pfandt scoring a late goal in their Quarter Final match against Spain. Germany are known for scoring late goals. They have done it historically with the senior group. It is in their DNA. They never give up, they keep moving the ball and they keep playing with the same intensity."
Reid, however, feels that India can win the semi-final against Germany. "It will be a challenging game for us but I am confident if we play our best, then we will win."
The former Australian player said that he was impressed by the fight and grit shown by India in the quarterfinal match. Reid added that the team will look to be more attacking against Germany in the final-four match.
"Our performance against Belgium was, perhaps, not very attractive to watch. But I feel happy to see the boys showed a lot of grit, determination, and guts. As a coach, it was very important for me and exactly what we needed.
"I hope to play with a little bit more energy and tone tomorrow. We got a little bit defensive against Belgium and it was not our objective. So, we will try to play attacking hockey tomorrow, try to penetrate and score. That's the name of the game," Reid said.
On the other hand, Germany beat Spain in the shoot-out 3-1 after both sides were deadlocked at 2-2 by the end of the second half in another quarterfinal match.
Germany coach Valentin Altenburg revealed that he, along with his team, watched India's quarter-final match against Belgium from the stands to make an assessment of what to expect in the semifinal.

"The boys got first impression of what to expect from India and also from the spectators at Kalinga Stadium. We really enjoyed the noise. I had goosebumps when I saw see big stars like Harmanpreet Singh and Manpreet Singh cheering for the young stars. It was quite an emotional moment for me," he said.
Altenburg added that Germany have to be at their best to go past India.
"We have huge respect for India because of their attacking quality. Against Belgium, we also saw saw tremendous defensive skills from India against a very strong and structured Belgian team. We know we have to be very best tomorrow to have a chance to win against India," he said.
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