Beijing Olympic Games

Updated: 2008-08-24 00:13:01

(BEIJING, August 23) — Germany edged past Spain 1-0 at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium on Saturday, August 23, to win gold in Men’s Hockey.

It was a typical German performance marked by a strong midfield and a stronger defense that choked Spain after Christopher Zeller scored the only goal of the match in the 16th minute.

The super efficient Germans broke Spanish hearts by winning the final and the gold medal by the narrowest of margins. Only Zeller’s penalty corner conversion separated the teams, but there was no doubt about Germany’s dominance.

Germany won the Olympic gold medal for the first time in 16 years while Spain took silver, which it also won at the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games and the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games.

Australia ran over the Netherlands in the bronze medal match, winning 6-2 after scoring three straight goals to open the competition. Two 21-year old debutants, Eddie Ockenden and Des Abbott starred for Australia — Ockenden scored three goals and Abbott one.

The Netherlands were left gasping and although they showed some spirit by narrowing the score at 3-2, the Aussies were unstoppable.

Australia, gold medalists at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, have now finished in the medals for the fifth Olympics in a row. The Athen’s silver medalist Dutch return home without a medal for the first time since the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

Great Britain achieved their best since winning the gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Games, finishing in fifth place after a 5-2 defeat of the Republic of Korea (ROK), the 2006 Asian Games champions.

Jonty Clarke of Great Britain topped the scorers list in the match with two goals while Barry Middleton, Ashley Jackson and Glenn Kirkham added one apiece. The ROK reply came from Jang Jong-hyun and Hyun Hye-sung off penalty corners.

Korea, silver medalists at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, improved on their eighth place finish at the Athens Games, by finishing sixth.

China beat South Africa 4-3 in extra time to finish 11th in the tournament. Skipper Song Yi yet again played the lead role with three penalty corner conversions, including the match-winner in the second half of extra time. Na Yubo scored the other goal for the home team while South Africa fought hard and did well to tie and force extra time after being down 3-1. Lungile Tsolekile, Ian Symons and Austin Smith scored for South Africa.

Updated: 2008-08-23 23:22:25

(BEIJING, August 23) — A defensive Germany overcame Spain 1-0 to claim the gold medal in Men’s Hockey at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium on Saturday, August 23.

The only goal of the match came in the 16th minute when Christopher Zeller, who was crucial to Germany’s 2006 World Cup triumph, converted the first of only two penalty corners they received.

It was Germany’s first gold medal in Men’s Hockey since the 1992 Barcelona Games while Spain finished with the silver medal for the third time.

Germany’s success was built around a strong and efficient defense that kept Spain’s forwards in check with close, man-to-man marking. The usually sharp and fast Spanish forward line of Eduard Tubau, Pol Amat and Santiago Freixa was starved of passes and only a couple of penetrative individual runs marked the Spanish presence.

Earlier in the day, Australia crushed the Netherlands 6-2 to win bronze.

Updated: 2008-08-23 22:38:40

The German team poses. (Photo credit: Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images)

World No. 2 Germany won the gold medal in the Olympic Men’s Hockey tournament on Saturday, defeating Spain 1-0.

Goalkeeper Max Weinhold celebrates. (Photo credit: Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Tibor Weissenborn of Germany (front) breaks with the ball. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

Christopher Zeller (R) of Germany breaks through with the ball. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

Matthias Witthaus of Germany (R) fights for the ball. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

Santiago Freixa (C) of Spain breaks through with the ball. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

Updated: 2008-08-23 21:21:16

(BEIJING, August 23) — Just as they did in the final match in Athens, Australia defeated the Netherlands with an Olympic medal at stake, this time winning bronze with a 6-2 victory that handed the Dutch Men’s Hockey team their first non-podium finish at the Olympics since Barcelona 1992.

Australia, gold medalists at the Athens 2004 Games, rocked the Netherlands with three goals in the opening nine minutes, two from the stick of Eddie Ockenden and the other from Des Abbott. The Netherlands rebounded with goals from Taeke Taekema and Teun de Nooijer but Australia moved clear 4-2 when Ockenden struck his third in the 28th minute.

Australia extended the lead shortly after half-time when Rob Hammond found a way past the Netherlands defense before Luke Doerner sealed the win with a penalty corner conversion in the 61st minute.

Ockenden and Abbott, both 21 and making their Olympic debut, lived up to their billing as stars-in-the-making. Ockenden was his team’s most dangerous attacking threat while Abbott scored the goal of the match by slamming in a Jamie Dwyer cross on the wrong foot.

For the Netherlands it was a disappointing end to the careers of quadruple Olympians skipper Jeroen Delmee, Guus Vogels and De Nooijer.

Updated: 2008-08-23 00:11:52

(BEIJING, August 22) — Hockey world champions Germany will hope to add Olympic gold to their collection when they play Spain for the Men’s gold medal at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium on Saturday, August 23. Australia and the Netherlands will clash in the bronze medal match.

The gold medal match will be a case of Spanish flair versus German efficiency. Spain will hope it will be third time lucky after finishing with the silver medal at the Moscow Games in 1980 and the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

Spain has the talent, the ability and character to upstage world champions Germany and they showcased all three attributes beating Australia 3-2 in the semifinal after being down 0-2.

Germany, although winning the Pool A encounter 1-0 which put their campaign back on track, could find the going far more difficult. They will need to be much sharper in attack than they were against the Netherlands in the semifinal, which they won on penalties, though their tight defense should bring them few concerns.

The bronze medal match will be between the Netherlands and Australia. The teams also met in a medal match at the Athens Games, in which Australia beat the Dutch to take gold. The first meeting between these two teams in the preliminary round ended 2-2, but this time, with a medal at stake, the match won’t end in a draw.

The Dutch will be keen to avenge the Athens defeat and provide fitting farewells for goalkeeper Guus Vogels, midfielder Teun de Nooijer and skipper Jeroen Delmee, all probably playing their fourth and last Olympics.

South Africa will face China in the classification 11-12 match — the first match of the day. A contest between two evenly matched sides, but for the Chinese team, making their debut in the Men’s competition, the tournament has been a learning experience. China earned one point in the preliminary round from a draw with New Zealand. South Africa, despite losing all of their five matches in pool B, showed improvement in the latter part of the competition.

The Republic of Korea and Great Britain will meet in the classification 5-6 match. Both teams had their chances to finish higher but brief moments cost them precious points in their pool matches. Great Britain came through qualifying competition with two wins and two draws and, with some luck, could have made the top four.

Updated: 2008-08-23 00:10:55

(BEIJING, August 22) — The Netherlands recorded a convincing 2-0 win over China to win their first gold medal in 24 years at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium on Friday, August 22.

Goalkeeper Zhang Yimeng of China produced a brilliant performance in the first half but was not able to stop goals from Naomi van As and Maartje Goderie, which gave the Netherlands its 2-0 gold medal victory.

The win was the Netherlands’ first gold medal since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics while China achieved their best ever finish in the Olympics since their debut at the Sydney 2000 Games. Maartje Paumen of the Netherlands finished the competition as the top goalscorer with 11 goals.

Argentina defeated Germany 3-1 to claim the bronze medal in the competition and hence maintain their unbeaten record against the Germans since the 2007 Champions Trophy. Anke Kuehn’s only goal in the game was not enough to cancel out goals by Rosario Luchetti, Carla Rebecchi and Noel Barrionuevo of Argentina.

The defeat meant that defending champion Germany finished the competition without a medal while Argentina maintained their bronze medal finish in Athens.

Australia maintained their fifth place finish they achieved in Athens with a 2-0 win over Great Britain in an early classification match, while the loss was still an improvement for Great Britain who finished eighth in the 2000 Sydney Games.

Two goals from Madonna Blyth and Hope Munro were enough to see the game through with Angela Lambert of Australia announcing her retirement at the end of the game.

New Zealand fell to their worst ever finish in the Olympics, coming in 12th position after their 4-1 loss to South Africa. South Africa played their best hockey in the competition scoring four goals in the game through Marsha Marescia, Jennifer Wilson, Vida Ryan and Cindy Brown. A Gemma Flynn equalizer in the 17th minute was not enough as New Zealand finished the competition losing all six matches.

Updated: 2008-08-22 23:08:17

The Netherland team pose for photos. (Photo credit: Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images)

World champions the Netherlands snatched the Olympic Women’s Hockey gold with a 2-0 win over China here on Friday.

Maartje Paumen (No.17) goes after the ball. (Photo credit: Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Fu Baorong (No.8) of China goes after the ball. (Photo credit: Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Eva De Goede (No.24) goes after the ball. (Photo credit: Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Members of the Netherlands celebrate. (Photo credit: Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Members of the Netherlands celebrate. (Photo credit: Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images)