Power-packed Germany annexed the Olympic men’s hockey gold medal after 16 years with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Spain in the final yesterday.
Christopher Zeller netted the winner in the 16th minute with a ferocious penalty corner before the Germans warded off repeated Spanish attacks to strike gold in field hockey’s 100th year at the Olympics.
Germany added the Olympic title to their World Cup triumph two years ago, reinforcing their credentials as the sport’s foremost nation despite losing the No. 1 ranking to Australia in June.
PHOTO: AP
Germany improved upon their bronze medal finish in Athens four years ago, when they beat Spain 4-3 in the play-off, to win their first gold since the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.
It was two-in-a-row for coach Markus Weise, who had led the German women’s team to their maiden Olympic title in Athens before taking up the men’s job after Bernhard Peters switched to soccer.
Spain lived up to their billing as the best team never to have won the Olympic gold as they faltered for the third time after losing finals to India in 1980 and the Netherlands in 1996.
The Spanish strikers, led by the seasoned Santi Freixa, raided the rivals’ half through 70 minutes of gripping hockey, but could not get past the sturdy German defense that packed a powerful punch.
Freixa, who had scored five goals in the competition, failed to convert three penalty corners as Germany built on the 1-0 win over Spain in the preliminary round.
Earlier yesterday, Athens Olympic champions Australia won the bronze medal with a spectacular 6-2 win over the Netherlands.
The world No. 1 Kookaburras, smarting from Thursday’s semi-final loss to Spain, took their frustration out on the Dutch by scoring three goals in the first nine minutes. The win bettered Australia’s 6-3 triumph over Pakistan in a similar play-off for the bronze at their home Olympics in Sydney.
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