The winners of the Paris 2024 women’s hockey gold medal are the Netherlands. Most people expected that, no one will be especially surprised. The manner in which it was won may come as a surprise, but also doesn’t even scratch the surface of a fascinating final.
Here are a few immediate thoughts.
Everyone loves a narrative.
Coming into a game of this magnitude, there’s no real need to add any more hype to proceedings. But you simply can’t ignore the subplot of Alyson Annan being a former Netherlands head coach, trying to overhaul her old team with her new charges. The Dutch have no reason to fear anyone but I suspect that the one coach they didn’t want to come up against, the one coach who makes them stop and think twice, is probably Annan. And with good reason.
Almost the perfect game plan
When Yi Chen got ahead of her marker and deftly guided home the opener in the sixth minute it was exactly the start China wanted. Their game plan seemed to be based around giving themselves something to hang on to and being defensively disciplined to keep the inevitable Dutch attacking tide at bay. And it worked for the vast majority of the game.
They were superbly disciplined, kept their shape, made tackle after tackle and for a while it was looking like they were going to do it. The Dutch had 59% of possession but only mustered eight shots on goal – none of any real note. China were more aggressive and pressed higher up the pitch in the fourth quarter and looked strong. But for a penalty corner cheat code (of which more later), we’d probably be looking at the perfect defensive display and a shock gold medal. Fine margins.
Get out of jail free card.
Having watched his team struggle to break China’s defensive resistance for almost the entire match, Dutch coach Paul van Ass must have been mighty relieved to have Yibbi Jansen to call upon. The tournament’s top scorer bagged her ninth – and most important goal of the competition with nine minutes to go and ultimately ensured the game ended level and went to the shootout. I’ve said it countless times, but having Jansen really is like a cheat code.
You sometimes need a bit of luck.
Frederique Matla hit the post, China successfully overturned a penalty stroke on review – the luck looked to be with them. However they will be kicking themselves for wasting their review because I’m confident the corner Jansen scored from could have been overturned if they had their referral still. On another day, who knows?
Annan is one of the best coaches around.
I don’t personally think this was up for debate, but if it was before, it’s not now. She’s doing a hell of a job with China. What’s absolutely brilliant to see is that she is clearly really enjoying herself too. I remember her body language in the Rio 2016 final when it went to shootout. She looked under pressure, unhappy, almost beaten. Her reaction to this match going to shootout was a complete contrast. Smiling, laughing, joking and picking her players up – no tears, just smiles and pride. Great stuff.
They always score.
The Dutch don’t often find themselves chasing games. And they certainly don’t find themselves running out of time to find an equaliser. But they do pretty much always score. They have scored in every game since 15 February 2020. I know a lot of this article has been about China, and that’s a testament to how far they pushed the Dutch. But credit where credit is due – the Netherlands found a way and they won the title again.
Annie Veenendaal – Netherlands legend.
The battle to be the Netherlands’ goalkeeper at the games was very close between Veenendaal and Josine Koning. The Amsterdam stopper was hugely emotional when she got the nod and now, she will forever be the goalkeeper who saved three times in the shootout to capture the gold for the Dutch. With the men’s goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak the hero last night, it was Veenendaal’s turn tonight, and she delivered. Just goes to show, the goalkeepers are the most important people in the team. 🙂
Double Dutch
This is the first time the same nation has won the hockey gold medal in both men’s and women’s tournaments in the same year. Pretty cool.
So there you have it. The days of watching hockey every day are sadly at an end for now, but what a couple of weeks it has been!
The Top of the D 