The Netherlands beat Germany in a shoot-out to win the men's Olympic hockey gold Thursday, breaking a 24-year drought in what they hope will be the first of a Dutch double. A tense game ended all square at 1-1 after fourth-quarter goals in quick succession from Dutch captain Thierry Brinkman and Germany's Thies Prinz. The match went to a shoot-out, with each player going one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
The first two efforts for each side were saved before Brinkman put the Dutch 1-0 up. Dutch goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak then saved again from Prinz, giving the Netherlands a vital advantage over their fierce rivals. Thijs van Dam and Germany's Justus Weigand both netted, leaving Duco Telgenkamp with the chance to win the match.
The 22-year-old nonchalantly scooped the ball beyond Jean-Paul Danneberg in the German goal to make it 3-1 and give the Dutch their first gold medal in the men's competition since 2000. "Blaak did a great job the whole tournament, the whole team was amazing," said Brinkman. "It was quite intense because we knew Danneberg is a good shootout keeper, we analyzed him very well.
" The Germans and the Dutch share a lengthy rivalry as two of the great powerhouses of world hockey. Germany, the reigning world champions, came into the match with the confidence of knowing they had edged the pool game between the sides 1-0. They also had history on their side having won all four of their previous Olympic finals, including against the Dutch in London in 2012.
The Dutch wer.