By PARIS: Germany has secured a place in the men’s field hockey final at the Paris Olympics, defeating India 3-2 in a thrilling semi-final match. Marco Miltkau scored the decisive goal, lifting the ball over India’s experienced goalkeeper, P.R. Sreejesh, with just six minutes remaining.
Germany, who last won the gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics, will now face the Netherlands in the final. The Netherlands reached the final after a dominant 4-0 victory over Spain in their semi-final. The Dutch team has yet to concede a goal in the knockout stage.
India, having previously secured third place by beating Germany in Tokyo, will now compete against Spain for the bronze medal. This will be India’s opportunity to end a gold medal drought that dates back to 1980.
In their semi-final, the Netherlands showed strong performance with goals from Jip Janssen, Thierry Brinkman, Thijs van Dam, and Duco Telgenkamp. Janssen scored a penalty stroke, Brinkman added a goal from a rebound, van Dam struck early in the third quarter, and Telgenkamp completed the scoring.
Spain, who had previously lost to the Netherlands in the pool stage, will have another chance to vie for a medal in the bronze match. The Dutch are aiming to end a 24-year gold medal drought in their first Olympic final since 2012.
