The Hindu : Sport / Olympic Games : German women on top

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 28, 2004

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Sport - Olympic Games

German women on top

ATHENS, AUG. 27. (UNI) Germany survived all out Dutch attack for 30 minutes as it beat Holland 2-1 to win the Olympic women hockey gold here on Thursday night. For Germany, the scorers were Anke Kuhen (sixth) and Franziska Gude (20th). For Holland, Maartje Scheepstra (38th) reduced the margin.

Germany started on a blistering note and even before its rivals could settle down, it took the lead in the sixth minute when it forced a penalty corner and Anke Kuhen made no mistake.

The Dutch women managed to get their act quickly and raided the Germany citadel with some lightning moves, however, they just could not get the goal.

The Germans, counter attacks were incisive and created lot of panic in the Dutch defence. Anke Kuhen created a few moves and then Franziska Gude attempted couple of solo moves, however, they were foiled by the Dutch defence.

The repeated German assault saw Dutch defence collapsing for the second time in a space of 14 minutes when Ftranziska Gude capitalised on a defensive lapse and despatched the ball into the cage giving Goalkeeper Clarinda no chance (2-0).

The Germans kept the pressure on and should have increased the lead but its forwards could not take advantage of the chances that came its way. The Dutch women having conceded two goals became very tentative and their attacks lacked cohesion and penetration.However, the bronze medallist in the last two Olympic Games Holland changed its tactics in the second half and made very purposeful attacks from the flanks which fetched it a penalty corner in the sixth minute and this time, Scheepstra was bang on target to reduce the margin for her side. — UNI

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