Paris, France – Day 11: The men’s hockey gold medal match at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will be an all-European encounter between the Netherlands and Germany, two of the sport’s biggest rivals.
The Netherlands men – reached the Olympic gold medal match for the first time in 12 years, overpowering Spain 4-0 in front of another capacity crowd at the Yves-du-Manoir Hockey Stadium. The reigning European champions are hoping to become Olympic champions for the first time since Sydney 2000.
In the spine-tingling evening match, reigning world champions Germany overcame India in dramatic style, winning 3-2 to put them on a collision course with the Oranje. Germany have won the men’s Olympic gold medal on four occasions, their last being at London 2012 where they defeated the Dutch in the final.
The timings of the semi-finals can be found below, with a complete list of available fixtures and timings available here.
Men’s medal matches – Thursday 8 August 2024 (all times CEST)
14:00 – Bronze: India vs Spain
19:00 – Gold: Germany vs Netherlands
More information on today’s matches can be found below, with additional details available here.
Netherlands 4-0 Spain
Goals in each quarter from Jip Janssen, Thierry Brinkman, Thijs van Dam and Duco Telgenkamp thrilled the masses of orange-clad fans at the Yves-du-Manoir Hockey Stadium, powering the team to a 4-0 victory over Spain.
The win keeps alive hopes of a golden Dutch double at Yves-du-Manoir, with the Oranje women set to play their own semi-final match against Argentina on Wednesday (7 August). Whilst the women are reigning Olympic champions, the Netherlands men are searching for their first gold medal in 24 years. The teams that won gold at Sydney 2000 and Atlanta 1996 both featured current men’s head coach Jeroen Delmee and Jacques Brinkman, father of current Netherlands captain Thierry Brinkman.
“This is a really special moment for us, but we are not there yet”, said Netherlands goal-scorer Jip Janssen, indicating that his team will not be satisfied with silver. “We want the gold medal, and we’re going to do everything in our power to do so. Whoever we play in the final, it will most definitely be a very tough job. But as I said, we’re going to do everything in our power to achieve it.”
While it was a painful defeat, Spain still have a chance to secure a place on the podium in Thursday’s bronze medal game. The match marked a personal milestone for Spain’s Alejandro Alonso, who made his 100th international appearance.
Germany 3-2 India
In the spine-tingling evening match, reigning world champions Germany overcame India in dramatic style, winning 3-2 to put them on a collision course with the Oranje.
India took a deserved lead through Harmanpreet Singh’s deflected penalty corner, but Germany turned the match on its head with goals from Gonzalo Peillat’s penalty corner and a penalty stroke from Christopher Rühr. India restored parity six minutes into the third quarter through Sukhjeet Singh’s guided penalty corner deflection, but Marco Miltkau netted with six minutes remaining to keep Germany’s hopes of a fifth Olympic gold medal alive and kicking.
It was a remarkable contest which, despite the high stakes and intensity, did not see a single disciplinary card awarded to either team. While their 44-year wait for a ninth Olympic gold medal goes on, India have an opportunity to win a second successive Olympic bronze when they face Spain on Thursday.
“I feel very proud to have made the final, but we cannot be proud with our performance, to be honest”, said Germany’s Justus Weigand. “It was a fight until the end and we are so happy.”
Looking ahead to a classic European encounter with the Netherlands, Weigand said: “Yeah, it’s very classic. I think everybody dreams about this match-up and we are looking forward to the game. Let’s see how it ends.”
Further information and statistics on all of today’s matches can be found here.
Notable figures attending the Olympic hockey at Yves-du-Manoir on Day 11 included FIFA President Gianni Infantino as well as Indian billionaire industrialists Sajjan and Parth Jindal.
Wednesday 7 August is women’s semi-finals day at the Yves-du-Manoir Hockey Stadium, with the Netherlands set to meet Argentina at 14:00 CEST before Belgium face China at 19:00. A preview for these matches can be found here.
The hockey competitions at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 take place from Saturday 27 July to Friday 9 August. Both the men’s and women’s competitions feature 12 teams, split into two pools of six ahead of quarter-finals, semi-finals and medal matches. For more information about the hockey competitions at Paris 2024, visit Olympics.Hockey.
Olympic Games Paris 2024 – Hockey
6 August 2024 – Day 11
Results – Men’s Semi-Finals
Netherlands 4-0 Spain
Germany 3-2 India
Men’s medal matches – Thursday 8 August 2024 (all times CEST)
14:00 – Bronze: India vs Spain
19:00 – Gold: Germany vs Netherlands
Final Standings
Men
Gold:
Silver:
Bronze:
4:
5: Belgium
6: Australia
7: Great Britain
8: Argentina
9: South Africa
10: Ireland
11: France
12: New Zealand
Women
Gold:
Silver:
Bronze:
4:
5: Australia
6: Germany
7: Spain
8: Great Britain
9: USA
10: Japan
11: South Africa
12: France
Pool standings overviews
Men: click here.
Women: click here.
by Asia Hockey
