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Germany: Olympic champions
It's beautiful, it's crazy.
Timo Weiss
Men's hockey
Gold: Germany
Silver: Spain
Bronze: Australia
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Germany claimed Olympic gold in the men's hockey on Saturday with a battling 1-0 win over Spain in the final.
In field hockey's centenary year at the Olympics, Christopher Zeller netted the only goal of the match from a ferocious penalty corner in the 16th minute.
The Germans then fought off repeated Spanish attacks to secure gold and add the Olympic title to their World Cup triumph two years ago.
"It's beautiful, it's crazy," said German captain Timo Wess. "We played our best hockey today and this has to be our biggest success ever.
"I am so proud of the team. The great team spirit we have is what carried us through. It can't get better than this."
Gripping
Spain lived up to their billing as the best team never to have won the Olympic gold as they faltered for the third time after losing finals to India in 1980 and the Netherlands in 1996.
The Spanish strikers, led by the seasoned Santi Freixa, raided the German half throughout a gripping contest but could not break a solid German defence.
Australia, Olympic champions in Athens four years ago, took the bronze medal earlier in the day with a spectacular 6-2 win over the Netherlands.
It was the first time in four successive Olympics that Netherlands failed to win a medal, having won the title in 1996 and 2000 and a silver in Athens four years ago.
