The men’s hockey gold medal match at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will be an all-European encounter, with Germany overcoming India in sensational circumstances to set up a clash with fierce rivals the Netherlands on Thursday (8 August).
India dominated the first quarter, with the electric skills of Hardik Singh causing no end of problems for the Germany defence. Die Honamas – who are four times Olympic gold medallists – successfully defended four early penalty corners, but eventually the pressure told when Harmanpreet Singh’s drag-flick took a wicked deflection off a German foot to sail into the net.
Germany turned the match on its head in the second period, with former Argentina penalty corner ace Gonzalo Peillat having a huge impact. Peillat scored with his very first penalty corner attempt, rattling the India backboard with a low drag-flick. Peillat’s second penalty corner attempt also resulted in a goal, hitting an India foot on the goal-line before Christopher Rühr expertly dispatched the resulting penalty stroke.
India, perhaps unfortunate to be trailing at half time, restored parity six minutes into the third quarter with Sukhjeet Singh guided a penalty corner deflection into the net. However, Germany broke India’s hearts when Marco Miltkau touched home with six minutes of the contest remaining, securing a place in their first Olympic final since winning the title against the Netherlands at London 2012.
It was a remarkable contest which, despite the high stakes and intensity, did not see a single disciplinary card awarded to either team.
“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.”
While India’s 44-year wait for a ninth Olympic gold medal goes on, they have an opportunity to win a second successive Olympic bronze when they face Spain on Thursday.
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.
#Hockey
#Paris2024
