- An ugly brawl broke out in the men’s hockey final at the Olympic Games
- The Netherlands defeated Germany on penalties in Paris on Thursday
- But the reaction of a Dutch star has earned the champions the label ‘sour winners’
The Netherlands has been dubbed the ‘sour winner’ after an ugly brawl broke out following the men’s hockey team’s gold medal win over Germany.
The Dutch defeated their German rivals 3-1 in a thrilling shootout after a 1-1 draw to take the top prize, with Duco Telgenkamp firing the final penalty past goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg.
Telgenkamp then made a gesture to calm Danneberg down, after which heated scenes broke out when Niklas Wellen rushed towards his goalkeeper to defend him.
The Dutchman responded with his mockery to Danneberg’s pre-match comments, in which he suggested that the Netherlands are afraid of the German team.
Telgenkamp was then seen placing his hand on the throat of German star Wellen, as a handful of players celebrated their victory nearby.
The angry riot did not go down well with the home fans, who expressed their disapproval of the Dutch team en masse on social media.
“He could have won with dignity but was a poor winner,” one fan said on Reddit.
Another said: ‘Was wondering why there was a fight until they showed this. Not cool of the winners.’
An ugly brawl broke out after the men’s hockey gold medal match in Paris
Dutch star Duco Telgenkamp mocked German goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg after securing victory in a dramatic shootout
But his celebration sparked a furious reaction from the Germans in scenes that marred the event
“I’m deeply ashamed,” said a third fan. “A bunch of privileged kids.”
“I think the goalie feels bad enough already,” another fan added. “No need to mock. Go celebrate your gold.”
A fifth fan said: ‘Embarrassing. Sour winners are worse than sour losers.’
“It depends on what the German said, but that’s not true,” another Reddit user said. “Be the bigger men, enjoy the gold.”
Thursday victory gave the Dutch men their third gold medal and 10th medal overall in hockey since 1928. They last won gold at the Sydney Playing in 2000, after losing the 2004 and 2012 finals.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was in the stands to watch his country’s ‘Holland!’ and ‘Deutschland!’ battle it out in a thrilling defensive match.
Germany and the Netherlands were limited to six and seven shots on target respectively, with the Germans having 57% possession, but the Dutch doubled their number of attacking circle penetrations with 20.
The Netherlands won gold, but were described as ‘sour winners’ by fans on social media
Dutch captain Thierry Brinkman finally opened the scoring in the 46th minute, directing a shot from teammate Koen Bijen, but the shot was tipped over Danneberg.
German defender Gonzalo Peillat saved his team in the 49th minute by catching a shot with his stick on the goal line. The ball had gone over the prone Danneberg, who had stopped a shot with a dive moments earlier.
Germany immediately put pressure on the Dutch defence, who gave away a penalty corner. Midfielder Thies Prinz used it to level the score by backing out of the circle and firing a shot that flew past goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak.
In the final minute, the Netherlands were awarded a penalty corner. Defender Jip Janssen ripped off his stick, but the ball went wide and penalties had to be taken.
Danneberg saved Jonas de Geus’ first penalty by diving to block the shot, while Pirmin responded by holding Niklas Wellen’s ball between his gloves.
Danneberg also saved the second penalty, catching it with his pad hand as he dived. Pirmin then saved Hannes Mueller’s attempt with his pad to keep the shootout score at 0-0.
Brinkman scored the first shootout goal of the set with a spinning backhand, lifting the ball between Danneberg’s leg and stick. Pirmin then saved Prinz’s shot with his pad hand.
Thijs van Dam followed his captain and shot the ball between Danneberg’s legs, leaving the Germans hanging in the net.
Justus Weigand scored the first German goal in the shoot-out, rounding Pirmin’s defence, but it was too late as Telgenkamp’s shot bounced off the boards, giving the Dutch the gold medal. Germany had just one more chance.