Netherlands beat Germany on penalties to win hockey gold

The Netherlands won their first men’s hockey Olympic gold medal in 24 years by beating Germany on penalties in a thrilling final at Paris 2024.

After a 1-1 draw across 60 minutes, Dutch keeper Pirmin Blaak starred as he saved three shuffles in the 3-1 shootout success.

The Dutch claimed their third Olympic men’s title but first since they beat South Korea on penalties at Sydney 2000.

In a high-quality final between the two best sides in the world, the Dutch took the lead through Thierry Brinkman, who bundled in Koen Bijen’s dink over German keeper Jean-Paul Danneberg.

They could have wrapped the match up 11 minutes from time only for a close-range Bijen shot to be cleared off the line by defender Gonzalo Peillat.

Germany equalised seconds later as Thies Prinz salvaged a botched short corner and struck the ball into the bottom corner.

The final went straight to penalties, and the first five shuffles of the shootout were saved.

Brinkman and Thijs van Dam scored for the Dutch, while Justus Weigand struck for Germany.

Duco Telgenkamp – the youngest player in the Netherlands’ squad – took the winning penalty shuffle, finding the net on his reverse.

There was a clash between the two sets of players after the shootout, sparked by Telgenkamp, 22, running over to Germany keeper Danneberg and performing a shushing celebration.

Earlier on Thursday, India fought back from a goal down to beat Spain 2-1 and claim bronze.

Marc Miralles’ penalty stroke put Spain ahead at the start of the second quarter.

But two penalty corner goals from captain Harmanpreet Singh ensured India won bronze for the second Games in a row.