Time to ponder for India as Germany take home the Men's Hockey World Cup

It was a final to remember between Germany and Belgium. It could well be described as a boxing match, as the two teams never stopped throwing punches. Everytime the crowd felt one team was down for the count, like Germany looked like when trailing 0-2, it rose up to throw a jab.For the third pressure game in a row starting with the quarterfinals, Germany erased a two-goal deficit to become champions for the third time. First it was England, then Australia and finally Belgium. That's how World Cups are won. Cliched it may sound, but you have to beat the best to be the best.

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The Germans are not just the new world champions but also the new world No. 1 team in men's hockey."I have known some of these guys from the time they were 13 or 14 and seen their journey for Germany for the past 10 years," said coach Henning after the final. "They've lost some big games, but finally they made it. The group fell sometimes, but they are here again. So happy to see them celebrate in India and the capital of hockey."The Belgians, though, haven't lost any fans. To be in a second consecutive World Cup final after their maiden entry in the summit clash in 2018 speaks volumes of how much they have improved. And to win a World Cup, an Olympic gold and another World Cup silver in the space of five years is not earned without breaking a sweat.What the Red Lions have done in the last 15 years to storm back from the bottom of world hockey to the top is study material for many teams to follow and learn from.The Germans knew how tough teams like Belgium would make it for them in Odisha. So they trained differently to achieve a goal that they had been trying to achieve for 17 years since their last World Cup triumph at home in 2006."In the