Czech Republic Overcomes Initial Nervousness and Comfortably Beats Germany – 01.12.2018

Germany was only upsetting the Czech side in the first part of the match. Then the team coached by Petri Kettunen managed to deal with the first-game anxiety. The packed O2 Arena saw 15 goals and the Czech fans could leave the arena knowing their national team won 10-5.

During the 1st period, the Czech hosts were pressuring the Germans, but it was Julian Nihlén in the 7th minute, who scored the first goal of the game. The almost sold-out O2 Arena was cheering extremely loud for their heroes. The Czechs were strangled by their own nervousness, but it came to the end with 10:14 on the clock. Josef Rýpar used the lucky bounce of the ball and unleashed an eruption of Czech joy in the stands with his equalizer. The end of the 1st period was extremely unlucky for the home side – in the 17th minute, Alexander Burmeister rolled the ball into the net with the help of one of the Czech defenders and a couple seconds later one of the home players managed to hit both posts with one shot, but the score after the first 20 minutes remained 2-1 in favor of Germany.

The Finnish coach of the Czech team, Petri Kettunen, knew how to motivate his side for the 2nd period. Less than 2 minutes into the second part of the game, Tom Ondrušek unleashed an unstoppable shot which ended up in the upper corner of Germany’s net. After the equalizer, the Czechs were eager to score more, but the Germans knew how to take advantage of the mistakes in Czech defense. In the 26th minute, Niklas Bröker pulled the lead to the away side again. But then, the home-side tornado started demolishing its opponents. Three consecutive goals gladdened the Czech fans and for a few minutes it seemed that the whole arena was bouncing.

During the last period, the hosts fully controlled the game. With the help of 12,326 spectators they even managed to increase their lead. First it was Josef Rýpar with an assist from the 16-year-old rookie Filip Langer and the seventh Czech goal was tallied by Milan Tomašík. Both teams then added a few more goals, with the final score being 10-5 for the hosts. The last goal was symbolically tallied by Adam Delong, for whom it was his third of the night. Delong’s hat-trick sealed the win for the home side and the Czechs can now focus on Sunday’s game against Latvia, whereas Germany will face their Swiss neighbors.