Netherlands girls hockey team wins gold at the Youth Olympic Games 2010

Right from the start the Netherlands’ girls’ hockey team for the Youth Olympic Games made it clear they were here to win gold. The senior Dutch women, the reigning world and Olympic champions, fell to Argentina last month in the prestigious Champions Trophy final, failing to complete hockey’s coveted triple crown.

With Argentina also featuring here, the Dutch juniors came on a mission of revenge and showed their intent when they got to work just nine hours after their 12-hour plane ride from Amsterdam. They got their chance when the two favourites faced off last night in the final at the Sengkang Hockey Stadium, and at the final whistle, it was mission accomplished for the Oranje girls, in truly dramatic fashion.

Argentina took the lead with a goal in the 24th min via Augustina Albertarrio, but the stylish South Americans were never allowed to settle by the hard running, pass and move game of the Dutch. The European giants equalised in the 47th min through penalty corner specialist Lieke van Wijk and the game moved into extra-time. Right at the death, the Dutch were awarded a penalty corner and Lieke converted for a second time just after the horn sounded to signal the end of the match to break Argentinian hearts.

In the midst of a huge Oranje celebration, Dutch forward Roos Broek said: “Yes, we wanted revenge and it was indescribable. It was crazy when I saw the ball fly into the goal at the end. I just started screaming and we were all jumping up and down.

“It was amazing having such a big Dutch crowd here and their screams gave us strength out on the field,” added the 16-year-old.

“We had a mission here, this is job done, and we did it as a team.”