Germany beat Netherlands 4-1 in Euro rivalry, inch closer towards quarterfinals

Two-time champions Germany outclassed last edition silver medallist Netherlands 4-1 in their second Pool D match to inch closer towards booking a direct quarterfinal berth at the ongoing men's hockey World Cup here on Wednesday.

Germany came back from a goal down and scored through Mathias Muller (30th minute), Lukas Windfeder (52nd), Marco Miltkau (54th) and Christopher Ruhr (58th) to register their second consecutive win in the pool.

Netherlands, however, took the early lead through Valentin Verga in the 13th minute.

By virtue of this win, Germany are atop Pool D with six points from two wins ahead of Netherlands, who are on three points.

Germany had earlier defeated Pakistan 1-0 in their opening match, while Netherlands had mauled Malaysia 7-0.

In the battle between world number 4 Netherlands and number 6 Germany, the Dutch were the early aggressors but the Germans came to the party as the match progressed.

Netherlands captain Billy Baker had the first real scoring opportunity in ..