Olympics: Germany win gold

An early penalty corner goal from Christopher Zeller was enough to take the German men to a 1-0 win over Spain and add the gold medal to their world title in the final match of the Olympic hockey tournament in Beijing.

Both teams started by playing low intensity hockey, Germany knocking the ball around on risk-free trajectories while Spain was happy to leave them to it, patiently waiting for their opportunities.

A 16th minute penalty corner changed all that however, as Christopher Zeller powered a cracking flick under the crossbar to give his team the lead, putting all the pressure on Spain.

Spain shifted up the gears and began to look more threatening but failed to break the rock solid German defences and as time wore on, the efforts became more desperate as Sergi Enrique was sent to the bin.

Germany held on in what was not a classic battle, going against the grain of what proceeded this encounter.

For German striker Florian Keller it was a particularly special moment: he adds his Gold to the four that are already in the family, with his grandfather, father, brother and sister all having been Olympic Gold medalists.

In the bronze medal match, Australia thrilled the crowd in a 6-2 win over the Netherlands with Eddie Ockenden starring. In another whirlwind start, the youngster scored two close range goals in a 30-second period and Des Abbott made it 3-0 with just nine minutes gone.

Teun de Nooijer won a corner for Taeke Taekema to convert in the 12th minute before the veteran made it 2-3 to make the game close but Ockenden’s cross-shot found a smart deflection from Eli Matheson to re-establish the two goal cushion.

Rob Hammond cracked in a second-half reverse and Luke Doerner nailed a ferocious drag-flick to close out the game 6-2 and win the bronze medal.