Hockey, Men

Since the end of India’s dominance in 1956, no nation had been able to retain the Olympic field hockey title. For a long time, it seemed the same would happen in Sydney. The Dutch title defenders and World Champions only won two of their five pool matches. Following their loss to Pakistan, they would only advance if eliminated Great Britain would beat heavily favored Germany. The Dutch players didn’t think they’d stand a chance and left for the Olympic Village. The match was tied until 65 minutes, when a penalty corner goal gave Britain the victory and the Dutch a berth in the semis. The other pool saw a major upset as 1996 silver medallist Spain finished last in their pool. India and South Korea tied for second, but the South Korean upset victory over the Indians secured their first ever spot in the Olympic semi-finals.

The South Koreans continued to startle southern Asia, beating Pakistan 1-0 to gain entry to the gold medal match. In the other semi, Australia and the Netherlands failed to score in normal and over time. In the resulting penalty shoot-out, Dutch goalkeeper Ronald Jansen secured his second Olympic final by performing only save of the shoot-out. The final was an exciting match, with South Korea taking the lead. The Dutch responded with three goals by captain Stephan Veen, only to see their lead erased shortly before full time. Once more, the Dutch had to go into penalties, and again they prevailed. Following a miss by Song Seong-Tae, Veen decided the match by scoring the final penalty.