Bernhard Ebner was the golden shooter in the 4-3 win after extra time in Russia / From 0 to 100: Michaelis with the Pepita hat
And suddenly there was silence in the “Bolshoy Ice Dome” in Sochi, which was packed with over 11.000 spectators. Somehow Bernhard Ebner “threw” the disc in front of the Russian goal in overtime, as they say in ice hockey. Whether the assist provider Sebastian Uvira somehow deflected the ball, blocking the goalkeeper's view, or whether it was the defender's own defender whose pants caused the puck to change direction - it didn't matter. Germany had just won 4-3 after extra time in Russia.
The actors themselves couldn't really believe it. They were happy like children. Laughed, laughed, just had fun. Of course, a victory in preparation is not a World Cup final or an Olympic final. Results are rather irrelevant at the moment. Nevertheless, people were not just a little proud of this “mini-sensation”. National coach Marco Sturm also saw it this way: “We showed morale. Even after being 1-3 down, the boys didn’t let themselves get rattled and continued to believe in their system.”
Marc Michaelis was particularly pleased. The 22-year-old college player only joined the team late on Wednesday. The debutant's record: two international matches, two goals. The striker scored consolation goals in the 1:4 defeat against Russia on Friday, and then scored a second yesterday. Pretty cheeky, too. Michaelis' reward: the Pepita hat. Patrick Reimer recently presented the hat to his coach Marco Sturm after the victory over Canada at the Olympic Games. Michaelis' debut went straight from 0 to 100. A certain Freddy Tiffels sends his regards.
So the small sense of success in Russia is good. But nothing more. Sturm never tires of emphasizing that there is still a long way to go until we get back to operating temperature. Especially because there are new faces there. The expectations may rise, but the national coach prefers to keep the puck flat. In the coming week it will be against Slovakia in Weißwasser and Dresden. Here, too, one is not necessarily a favorite. Sturm puts it another way: “We want to carry the momentum into the coming week.”