Christopher Zeller is a complete player; a fine trapper, dribbler and shooter besides being an impeccable flicker in penalty corners. He was the man behind Germany’s victory.
Power alignments were slightly altered after Germany captured the men’s gold in the Olympic hockey competition, but in the women’s section, it failed to win a medal, losing to Argentina 3-1 in the match for the bronze medal.
Interestingly enough, the German men’s team came into the championship through a complex route. It had to play in the qualifiers after failing to win a berth for Beijing from the European Championship in Manchester. That the Germans showed the fortitude to put behind this aberration and win the title after a hiatus of 16 years exemplifies the stuff they are made of.
Germany’s hero was Christopher Zeller, whose lone goal against Spain in the final settled the issue. Contemporary hockey does not have another all-round player as skilful as Christopher Zeller. The 23-year-old’s proficiency and class enabled Germany to dominate the World Cup in Monchengladbach in 2006.
It was probably in the fitness of things that the star of the German team should emerge as the pole star of the Olympics final. Christopher Zeller is a complete player; a fine trapper, dribbler and shooter and an impeccable flicker in penalty corners.
The final in Beijing also confirmed the stature of Germany’s coach, Markus Weiss, who had inherited the legacy of the master tactician, Bernhard Peters, after the World Cup. The perfection displayed by the team in the final of the Champions Trophy last December clearly showed how much of hard work the unassuming Markus Weiss had put in. The effective amalgamation of the seniors, Matthias Witthaus, Florian Keller and the rest with the Zeller brothers (Christopher and Philipp), made Germany the tough team in Beijing.
True, it had a few hiccups in the early stages of the competition when it was held to a draw by South Korea and Belgium, but nevertheless it finished second in the pool behind Spain.
The semifinal against the Netherlands that went into the tie-breaker and sudden-death — German goalkeeper Maximilian Weinhold tipped Taeke Taekema’s crucial flick over the post to take his team into the final — was the turning point for Germany. The rest is history.
For the silver medallist, Spain, it was another case of being so near and yet so far. The dream of Spain’s coach, Maurits Hendriks, just crashed after Christopher Zeller’s devastating penalty corner conversion.
In terms of tactics and technique, not to speak of the ingenuity and improvisation, the Spaniards had it in them to climb atop the podium. But luck was not on their side on that day. The competence of Eduard Tabau, Pol Amat and Santi Friexa was just not enough to see Spain through.
The early phase of the competition underlined Australia’s stature as the defending champion. But when it was held 3-3 by Great Britain, there was a speck of doubt whether the team was tiring. There were talks of injuries to some players as well.
Australia, certainly, was unprepared for the reverse against Spain in the semifinal after leading in the early phase. The team was too dependent on the athleticism of Jamie Dwyer. One would have loved to see the redoubtable Aussie coach, Barry Dancer, stepping down from his post in a blaze of glory after a second gold medal for the team, following the one won in the Athens Olympics. But sadly that was not to be.
Penalty flicker Taeke Taekema will be unable to forget for the rest of his life that fateful moment in the sudden-death against Germany. The ageing Dutch team, twice gold medallists, went out without a podium finish. For the effusive Roelant Oltmans to exit from Beijing without a medal must have been heart-rending. But sport can be cruel to those who are sentimental.
The Netherlands had the highest tally in the pool stage, garnering 13 points from Pool B as against 12 by Spain, the Pool A topper. Taeke Taekema emerged as the top scorer of the competition with 11 goals. However, the Dutch team’s dream of taking home a fourth medal from the Olympics suffered a severe jolt after its defeat in the semifinals. The Netherlands then capitulated to Australia in the match for the bronze medal.
While Great Britain can take some comfort from its fifth-place finish after humbling South Korea, the performance of the three Asian teams, notably Pakistan, was abominable. When the sub-continent lost its pre-eminence as the hockey super power, the onus was on South Korea to carry forward the Asian identity. But the team fumbled badly, its inconsistency making it totally unpredictable. Even more appalling was the performance of the three-time gold medallist, Pakistan. That the team fell to eighth place points to the rot that has set in. Players such as Shakeel Abbasi and Rehan Butt proved ineffective, making Pakistan look substandard throughout the competition.
In the women’s section, Maartje Paumen fired the Dutch dream of a golden dawn with a remarkable show of power and precision. The 11 goals that she scored in the competition bear testimony to Paumen’s class. The Netherlands never put a foot wrong, winning all its matches to underline its superiority.
In the semifinals, Germany, the defending champion, slumped to defeat against the spirit and style of the Chinese while Argentina crumbled against the Dutch.
The progress made by China should provide an inspiration to the rest of the Asian teams to fight and regain glory that seems to have been irretrievably lost over the years.
A Special Correspondent
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