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Golden strokes Netherlands repeat on penaltiesLatest: Sunday October 08, 2000 05:29 PM
SYDNEY, Australia (CNNSI.com) -- The Netherlands defeated South Korea on penalty strokes to retain the men's field hockey gold medal on Saturday. South Korea send the match into overtime by scoring two goals in the final five minutes. The Dutch prevailed on penalties 5-4. It was the second time in two matches the Netherlands needed penalties to win and the first time penalty strokes were needed to decide an Olympic hockey title. After having beaten host Australia's Kookaburas 5-4 on penalties in Thursday's semifinals after a 0-0 draw, Saturday's victory made the Netherlands the first team to successfully defend its title since India in 1956 -- in Melbourne. The last of Dutch captain Stefan Veen's three-goal performance in the 64th minute gave the Netherlands a 3-1 lead and appeared to clinch the victory. But South Korea's late goals sent it eventually to penalties, where Song Seung-Tae sent his flick wide left and give the gold medal to the Netherlands.
All five Dutch shooters -- Bram Lomans, Piet-Hein Geeris, Wouter van Pelt, Marten Eikelboom and Veen -- converted their penalty attempts. Jeon Jong-Ha, Yeo Woon-Kon, Kim Kyung-Seok all converted before Song sent his attempt wide left after seeing goalkeeper Ronald Jansen move to his right. Kang Keon-Wook converted to keep South Korea's hopes alive but Veen put in the Dutch's last chance for the victory. The Olympic title confirms the Dutch dominance of the men's game having come in with titles in the World Cup, Olympics and Champions Trophy. The title match victory climaxed the Netherlands remarkable run from the brink of elimination during the preliminary phase. Britain's upset of Germany on the final day of preliminary competition allowed it to sneak into the semifinals on a superior goal differential. In a fiercely contested match, South Korea led in the ninth minute when Song, who picked the ball from Jansen's feet, flicked it into the goal on his second try after the Dutch defense was pierced by Kang's reverse drive from the top of the circle. Jansen did well to block Kang's shot, but the unmarked Song, lurking near the goalkeeper, tapped into an open goal. Netherlands equalized in the 19th minute on a penalty stroke by Veen. The penalty stroke followed its second penalty corner as Jeon stopped Loman's rasping drag flick with his body on the goal line. Veen put the Netherlands ahead three minutes into the second half when he intercepted a cross form Tuen do Nooijer and gave the South Korean goalkeeper no chance as he cooly placed the ball into the right corner. The Dutch skipper completed his hat trick by capitalizing on a rare defensive lapse in the 64th minute to sweep the ball into the boards as the South Koreans failed to clear the zone. The Koreans were shocked as Veen dived forward to reach the ball and swept it into the goal in a reflex action. Veen's third goal prematurely sent the Dutch fans into celebration. But goals by Kim and Kang two minutes apart revived South Korea's hopes with 2 1/2 minutes remaining. South Korea forced a first penalty corner in the 66th minute, which resulted in a goalmouth melee and Kim slamming the ball against the board on a rebound from Jansen. South Korea raced back to restart play and forced another penalty corner, which Kang converted with a rasping shot after moving to the right. Earlier in the day, Australia rode Troy Elder's three goals to the bronze medal in a 6-3 victory against three-time champion Pakistan. Australia also finished third at the Atlanta Games. Elder scored twice in the first eight minutes and Australia remained in control throughout. Pakistan tried to rally before Elder completed his hat trick nine minutes from time. Veteran Stephen Davies, James Elmer and Michael Brennan contributed a goal each for Australia to deny Pakistan a medal for the second consecutive Olympics. Atif Bashir, Sohail Abbas and Kashif Javad scored for Pakistan. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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