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NEW DELHI - Germany is one victory away from a hat trick of men's field hockey World Cup titles, while Australia stands in its way, determined to make amends for successive losses in the final.
The third straight title showdown between these nations Saturday will pit the reigning Olympic and world champion Germany's clinical precision against Australia's expansive game.
Germany defeated European champion England 4-1 in Thursday's semifinals, while Australia won 2-1 against three-time world champion the Netherlands.
Germany's young team is hoping its big match temperament will see it past Australia, which has received little reward for being among the best teams in the world for the past four decades, winning just one Olympic and one World Cup title.
"Our consistency has been a huge factor in this tournament," said German captain Max Muller, who is among the majority of German players making their first appearance in the World Cup.
Matthias Witthaus, Moritz Furste and Jan-Marco Montag are the only players from the 2006 champion team left in Germany's squad that went on to win the Olympic title at Beijing in 2008.
German coach Markaus Weise said the final will be a "great challenge."
"For me a hat-trick of three successive titles is just a number. I don't go by statistics, we simply want to win the World Cup once again," said Weise.
Germany's strongest challenger in recent years has been Australia, which clinched its first Olympic Games gold medal at Athens in 2004, and is eager to win its first World Cup since 1986.
Australia was tipped as the favourite when it arrived in New Delhi for this World Cup after winning the Champions Trophy three months ago, outplaying Germany in the final.
After losing to Germany in the 2002 and 2006 finals, Australia is hoping for better under coach Ric Charlesworth, who captained the Kookaburras team that won the 1986 World Cup.
"This Australian team has different makeup and history," said Charlesworth, asserting that the results of the last two World Cup finals is not playing on his players' mind.
"Who knows it might be third time lucky, but its certainly a motivation to beat Germany," Charlesworth said. "My motivation is only that these players achieve a milestone of winning the World Cup, it's nothing personal."
"Germany has been a very consistent side and has high quality payers all around the field. I don't see any weaknesses in them, but we'll have to find some in the final."
Charlesworth said the team must make more of its scoring chances.
"Our finishing is still a concern. It's not as good as I want, but finishing in a hockey match is always difficult because other teams push hard," he said.
Australia's attack is led by ace strikers Grant Schubbert and Jamie Dwyer, whose golden goal clinched Australia the 2004 Olympic gold medal, while penalty corner specialist Luke Doerner's seven goals are the highest in the current tournament.
Canada finished 11th in the 12-team tournament, defeating Pakistan in a playoff Thursday.
