The Netherlands became the third men’s team to reach the semi-finals of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, defeating Australia 2-0 to exact revenge on the side that defeated them at the same stage of the tournament at Tokyo 2020.
It was another fiercely contested match at Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, with the large contingent of Dutch fans getting the win that they so desperately wanted thanks to goals from Duco Telgenkamp and Thijs van Dam. Telgenkamp’s superb penalty corner deflection came five minutes into the second half, with Van Dam scoring a stunning solo goal to effectively kill off the Kookaburras – who rallied hard in the latter stages – with eight minutes remaining.
Australia’s defeat sees them become the second Tokyo 2020 finalist to be eliminated in today’s quarter-finals, with the 2020 silver medallists following gold medallists Belgium after their earlier defeat at the hands of Spain, who the Netherlands will face in the final four.
“I feel amazing”, said Netherlands goal-scorer Telgenkamp after the match. “It was just a fighting game. We fought until the end to get a good result. it was just a fantastic performance from the team.
“I think there’s a lot of team spirit and fight in the Australian team, so we needed to match that,” continued the 22-year-old. “We did, and I’m very pleased about it. And now we keep moving forward, keep the flow coming and prepare for the next game, because it’s a big one.”
When asked about the current confidence levels contained within the team ahead of their semi-final against Spain, Telgenkamp said: “We feel confident about every match. We prepare well, it is our dream (to win a medal), but it’s a very long way to go.”
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.
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