Hockey World Cup 2018: Pakistan vs Germany - 3 talking points

#2 Long and intense midfield battle

It was the centre of the pitch which witnessed the most action

Neither side was willing to concede an inch - and neither side was willing to take the slightest risks, as a dodgy game was played out in the centre of the pitch.

The Germans managed 12 circle entries while Pakistan managed half that number. Strangely, enough, there was only one penalty corner earned by the Germans during the entire sixty minutes while neither Mubashar Ali nor Aleem Bilal could show off their drag-flicking skills as Pakistan failed to earn a single PC.

Both sides played in ambitious long crash balls, a vast number of them travelling harmlessly past the backline as the strikers they were meant for were playing in withdrawn positions.

The Germans just about managed eight shots on target while Pakistan managed three, as the men up front were held up in traffic and could find no way through a crowded midfield.

Tobias Walter in the German goal had to deal with a few tricky balls that meandered inches away from the edge of the goal line, but Imran Butt was forced to pull off a few good saves.