Hockey, Men

Field hockey is not a major sport in Spain, but it is in the Catalonian town of Terrassa, about 30 km from Barcelona. This town, which hosted the 1992 field hockey events, had been the chief supplier of Spanish hockey Olympians. The Spanish men couldn’t impress in front of their home crowd, however, and failed to make the semi-finals following a 6-1 trouncing by Pakistan. Pakistan also beat one of the pre-tournament favorites, the reigning World Champions from the Netherlands. In the other pool, the favored Germans and Australians advanced to the next round.

Both semi-finals were closely fought, with Germany prevailing over Pakistan after extra time, and Australia beating the Dutch 3-2. It was the third straight Olympic final for the Germans, who had lost to Pakistan in 1984 and Britain in 1988. Man of the match would become Michael Hilgers, who scored twice. Australia only got in a consolation goal shortly before the final whistle. German player Andreas Keller now equalled his father’s performance, as Carsten Keller had been on the victorious West German team of 1972. Carsten’s father, too, had been an Olympic finalist as Erwin Keller played in the 1936 game, losing to India.

The Pakistani won their bronze medal by scoring four goals against the Netherlands in less than fifteen minutes, turning around the score from 0-2 to 4-3.