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Two-time world champions Germany advanced to the quarterfinals of the ongoing FIH Men's Hockey World Cup after downing France 5-1 in their crossover match at Bhubaneswar's Kalinga Stadium on Monday.
The first quarter of the match saw Germany dominating for the most part. Germany earned its first penalty corner in the first two minutes but could not make much out of it. The two-time champions tried to make inroads into the French defence, but the latter guarded it well. In the final few seconds of the quarter, Gaspard Xavier of France got a green card. Moments later, Germany took the lead, courtesy a goal from Marco Miltkau, who slammed the ball into the back of the net after it went past France's defenders. At the first quarter end, Germany had a 1-0 lead. In the second quarter, a green card was shown to France's Timur Oruz and his side was left a man down for a while. However, a goal from Niklas Wellen doubled Germany's lead, with poor guarding from Thieffry Arthur, the French goalkeeper costing his side heavy. Wellen was able to capitalise well on a cross by a teammate. In the 23rd minute, Mats Grambusch's strike tripled Germany's lead. Germany earned a PC in the 24th minute and continued their pattern of domination as Moritz Trompertz fired the ball which was deflected by the French keeper while defending it from Grambusch's drag-flick. France took a referral as they felt that PC was not taken properly, but the goal stood after the official checked into it. In the 26th minute, Ludwig Moritz of Germany got a Green Card. At the end of the second quarter and the first half, the scoreline read 4-0 in favour of Germany. The third quarter was goalless. Germany did earn a couple of PCs but failed to convert them. Another major event was the French being reduced to 10 men after a green card was shown to Timothee Clement. With 15 minutes of gameplay to go, Germany still had a 4-0 lead. France got a PC in the 57th minute and Francois Goyet made a dive to convert a drag flick by Clement into a goal. French had something on their side of scoreline finally as it read 4-1, though still in favour of Germany. In the 59th minute, Germany earned a penalty corner and Gonzalo Peillat gleefully converted it to finish the match on high with a scoreline of 5-1. (ANI)
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