Latvia wins Deutschland Cup, leaving Germany's new coach Rankel without a title defence

Latvia takes the title

Latvia won the Deutschland Cup in Düsseldorf on Sunday, 8 November, beating Austria 6:2 (0:3, 2:2, 1:0). The win settled the four-nation tournament before Germany's last game against Slovakia that afternoon. Germany's hopes of keeping the trophy had depended on an Austrian upset, and that did not come. Latvia had already beaten Germany 3:1 on 7 November, a result that left the defending champions needing outside help. The sequence of the three results involving these teams is shown below.

Germany's defeat to Latvia

Before 8,107 spectators in Düsseldorf on 7 November, Germany lost 1:3 (0:0, 1:2, 0:1) to Latvia. Nikolaus Heigl scored Germany's only goal in the 29th minute, equalising while the team was a man short. Latvia's scorers were Bruno Osmanis (21st minute), Kristaps Skrastins (32nd) and Rodrigo Abols (59th), who play for Almtuna IS, Pioneer Vorarlberg and SC Bern. The second period decided the middle of the game: Osmanis, Heigl and Skrastins all scored in it, and Abols added the third Latvian goal in the final period. Germany's attackers fired 71 shots, but only 31 reached the target, and Julian Napravnik missed an empty net in the first period. Tobias Ancicka started in goal in place of Jonas Neffin, who had played against Austria, and could do nothing about the first Latvian goal.

Rankel's debut as head coach

André Rankel, 41, was making his debut as Germany's head coach. Before the tournament he had said that results were "egal" to him, and he left many experienced national players out of the squad, citing the workload of the DEL's leading teams. Germany opened with a 3:0 win over Austria on Thursday, 5 November, but much of the squad has little international experience. Rankel said he was broadly satisfied with his team's style, which aims to move forward quickly and directly. He said the team had a base to build on:

“The foundation is there, we can build on that.”

After the defeat to Latvia he added:

“We have taken a step in the right direction.”

Austria ends pointless

Austria, coached by Roger Bader, finished the four-nation tournament without a point, last in the field. Its defeats came against Germany (0:3), Slovakia (1:6) and Latvia (2:6). Latvia led 3:0 after the first period of the game against Austria on Sunday, and both teams scored twice in the second period. The tournament was staged in Düsseldorf, a venue for the 2027 world championship. Austria's final game ended in the 6:2 defeat to Latvia.