Paris, France: A quartet of women’s teams maintained their 100 percent win records on the fifth day of hockey action at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, with Belgium, the Netherlands, Australia and Argentina all triumphing to confirm berths in the competition quarter-finals at Yves-du-Manoir.
There was also a significant result in men’s Pool A as Germany defeated the Netherlands to seal their place in the knock-out stages.
More information on today’s matches can be found below. For additional information about the Pool Rankings and the various splitters, please click here (Appendix 2, art. 2.2).
Women’s Pool A
Belgium and the Netherlands continued their winning runs to move onto nine points in Pool A, both sealing qualification for the quarter-finals and leading the charge for the top two places.
Helene Brasseur, Charlotte Englebert and Ambre Ballenghien earned Belgium a 3-0 victory over Japan (5th), with Red Panthers ace Michelle Struijk expressing her delight at how well the team were doing at Paris 2024. “We’re top four in the world, we’ve had a good few years”, said Struijk. “But of course it’s the first time we were here at the Olympics with this group.”
Joining Belgium in nine points were the Netherlands, who were made to work hard in their 3-0 victory over China, who are fourth in the standings. An incoming storm forced the stadium to be evacuated prior to the match, meaning the contest – and also Spain men versus South Africa – was played without spectators. Speaking after the game, Netherlands goalkeeper Anne Veenendaal said: “We are happy with the result but perhaps not with the performance. We want to win the pool and are really looking forward to our match against Belgium on Friday.”
Earlier in the day, Nike Lorenz scored a hat-trick as Germany overpowered host nation France (6th) 5-1 in front of a packed Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, leaving Die Danas third in the standings at the end of the day’s play. “It’s the best for us”, said Lorenz when asked about what it is like to play at the Olympic Games. “It’s the best time every four years. And I’m so happy and thankful to be experiencing that for the third time.”
Women’s Pool B
After three rounds of matches, Australia sit top of the standings on nine points, just ahead of second placed Argentina who have the same points tally but a marginally inferior goal difference. Both teams are now certain to feature in the quarter finals.
Australia proved too strong for USA (5th), recording a 3-0 victory with Renee Taylor, Alice Arnott and Maddison Brooks all on target as the Hockeyroos maintained their 100 percent win record at Paris 2024. “We started the game really well, and maybe got a bit tired towards the end”, said Australia’s Arnott. “But we held in there. We really stuck to our guns, and kept with the processes. It was a hard-fought win, but it was a good win, nonetheless.”
Argentina were pushed every step of the way in their match against Spain (3rd), but goals from Agustina Gorzelany and Eugenia Trinchinetti ensured Las Leonas – being watched by their legendary former star Luciana Aymar, who was named FIH Player of the Year a record eight times – kept pace with the Hockeyroos ahead of their meeting on Thursday (1 August). “I didn’t know she was coming”, said Argentina’s Zoe Diaz de Armas, when asked about Aymar’s presence. “For real, I didn’t know. It makes us happy that she is here. She is everyone’s idol (in the team).”
After defeats in their opening two matches, Great Britain (4th) got their competition up and running with a 2-1 win against South Africa (6th) thanks to a 42nd minute winner from Hannah French, who said: “We’re really disappointed with our performance against Australia but we were confident we could put a performance out there today, and if we did, we could win the game. Hockey is about pressure and moments, and we’re happy we put our moments away today.”
Men’s Pool A
A third minute strike from Niklas Wellen gave Germany a 1-0 victory over European rivals the Netherlands (2nd), a result which put them top of the standings and guaranteed them a place in the quarter-finals. Reflecting on defeat, Netherlands captain Thierry Brinkman said: “It was a tough one, but they scored (and we didn’t). We started the game pretty well (but) with the ball I think we had difficulty breaking them down.”
Spain produced another strong performance by beating South Africa 3-0 with Marc Reyne scoring twice. The result puts the Red Sticks level with the Netherlands on seven points, but sit behind the Oranje in third position due to an inferior goal difference. With South Africa being four points behind fourth placed Great Britain with one match remaining, they are now unable to qualify for the quarter finals.
Further information and statistics on all of today’s matches can be found by clicking here.
In addition to Luciana Aymar, other notable figures attending the Olympic hockey at Yves-du-Manoir on Day 5 included International Federation of Equestrian Sports President Ingmar de Vos, International Union of Modern Pentathlon President Klaus Schormann, Brisbane 2032 Chairman Andrew Liveris, former FIH Executive Director Hans Bertels and Dr Safa Kocoglu, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, for the Government of Turkey.
The Paris 2024 Olympic hockey competition continues on Thursday 1 August with four men’s and four women’s matches taking place.
In men’s Pool B, India (2nd – 7pts) and Belgium (1st – 9pts) meet at 10:00 CEST on Pitch 1, with New Zealand (5th – 0pts) taking on Oceania rivals Australia (3rd – 6pts) on Pitch 2 in the 10:30 game. The final Pool B match of the day sees Argentina (4th – 4pts) facing Ireland (6th – 0pts) on Pitch 2 at 13:15. There is also one men’s Pool A match, with France (6th – 1pt) playing Great Britain (4th – 5pts) at 12:45 on Pitch 1.
In women’s Pool B, USA (5th – 1pt) face Great Britain (4th – 3pts) at 17:00 on Pitch 1 before Spain (3rd – 4pts) and South Africa (6th – 0pts) meet on Pitch 2 at 17:30. Argentina play Australia at 20:15 on Pitch 2. In the only women’s Pool A match of the day, Japan (5th – 0pts) playing hosts France (6th – 0pts) at 19:45 on Pitch 1.
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