Olympic::Men's Hockey Day 7 Review

Zeller goal delivers gold for Germany

Germany edged past Spain 1-0 at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium on Saturday, August 23, to win gold in Men's Hockey.

It was a typical German performance marked by a strong midfield and a stronger defense that choked Spain after Christopher Zeller scored the only goal of the match in the 16th minute.

The super efficient Germans broke Spanish hearts by winning the final and the gold medal by the narrowest of margins. Only Zeller's penalty corner conversion separated the teams, but there was no doubt about Germany's dominance.

Germany won the Olympic gold medal for the first time in 16 years while Spain took silver, which it also won at the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games and the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games.

Australia ran over the Netherlands in the bronze medal match, winning 6-2 after scoring three straight goals to open the competition. Two 21-year old debutants, Eddie Ockenden and Des Abbott starred for Australia -- Ockenden scored three goals and Abbott one.

The Netherlands were left gasping and although they showed some spirit by narrowing the score at 3-2, the Aussies were unstoppable.

Australia, gold medalists at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, have now finished in the medals for the fifth Olympics in a row. The Athen's silver medalist Dutch return home without a medal for the first time since the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

Great Britain achieved their best since winning the gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Games, finishing in fifth place after a 5-2 defeat of the Republic of Korea (ROK), the 2006 Asian Games champions.

Jonty Clarke of Great Britain topped the scorers list in the match with two goals while Barry Middleton, Ashley Jackson and Glenn Kirkham added one apiece. The ROK reply came from Jang Jong-hyun and Hyun Hye-sung off penalty corners.

Korea, silver medalists at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, improved on their eighth place finish at the Athens Games, by finishing sixth.

China beat South Africa 4-3 in extra time to finish 11th in the tournament. Skipper Song Yi yet again played the lead role with three penalty corner conversions, including the match-winner in the second half of extra time. Na Yubo scored the other goal for the home team while South Africa fought hard and did well to tie and force extra time after being down 3-1. Lungile Tsolekile, Ian Symons and Austin Smith scored for South Africa.