National ice hockey coach Harold Kreis broke down in tears during an interview after his team’s quarter-final victory. Now the World Cup semi-final against the United States is approaching.

Riga – The German national ice hockey team embarked on a veritable rush to victory at the World Cup in Finland and Latvia. After three losses to start there were five wins, the highlight for now being the sovereign quarter-final success against Switzerland on Thursday. After the semi-finals it got emotional, proud national coach Harold Kreis even choking back tears in an interview.

Ice Hockey World Championship: National coach Harold Kreis enthusiastic about his team – “I can only take my hat off”

Germany reached the quarter-finals fourth while the Swiss qualified for the last eight as leaders of Group B. Nevertheless, the district team managed to beat the Swiss 1:3 (0:1, 1:2, 0:0). An early opening goal and a double strike before the final third of the break coupled with a solid team performance, in terms of intensity and consistency on the defensive end, took Team DEB to the semi-finals.

In an interview with Magenta Sport shortly after the end of the game, Harold Kreis expressed enthusiasm for his team. “I can only tip my hat,” the 64-year-old said. His proteges had shown themselves “by unconditional commitment, incredible discipline and a rapprochement with the gang during the four and a half minutes in numerical inferiority”. The match penalty against Moritz Seider, which had led to the long manoeuvre, had apparently given the team extra motivation.

Ice Hockey World Championship: Harold Kreis is in tears – “It touches me”

After a sober analysis of the game, Kreis was asked how proud he was of his team. At this point, Kreis had to stop for a moment as he had to hold back tears. “It touches me,” he said touched, in a cracked voice. After a few seconds, the overjoyed head coach explained the outburst of emotion.

“Sometimes I let the emotions get a little high,” the German-Canadian told reporter Sascha Bandermann, adding, “I’m in good hands with this team. I can join the gang, they can play and do their thing. They are incredibly strong together, we respect our opponents, but we have developed a routine. But we don’t want to appear arrogant,” the modest circle said.

Germany meets USA again at Ice Hockey World Championships: Will Kreis get first medal in 70 years?

Now the German team, which Kreis said was “incredibly deserving” of the semi-finals, are among the final four teams in the tournament along with the top two teams from Canada, the United States and Latvia. Kreis, who only took over from Toni Söderholm at the start of the year, now has a chance to succeed. The German Ice Hockey Federation hasn’t won a medal at a world championship since 1953, so after 70 years it could still be the case this year.

But for that, the Americans must be beaten first, in the preliminary round, the DEB team lost in their third game of the preliminary round with 2:3 (0:0, 2:1, 0:2). After that, only victories followed. On Saturday at 7:20 p.m. (6:20 p.m. local time in Tampere, Finland), Germany can avenge their loss in the group stage. When you reach the final, things can get very emotional. (ajr)