Holland beats Germany to win Champion Trophy

Pat Rowley, Reuters, Cologne, Germany

The Netherlands, the Olympic champions, won the 24th Champions Trophy on Sunday by beating World Cup holders Germany 3-2 in a penalty shootout following the first ever goalless final.

The hero of the Dutch team was goalkeeper Guus Vogels who saved three German penalties, allowing Ronald Brouwer to win the game by converting the 10th and last penalty.

The Netherlands, who last won this world's top six event in Amstelveen in 2000 and learned on Sunday that they will host next year's event, have now lifted the trophy six times in 24 years, a record only bettered by Germany (8) and Australia (7).

In bright sunshine and before a capacity crowd of 6,000, Germany, who lost 5-2 to the Dutch in what was a dead pool match for them on Friday, were more dominant in the first half but failed to take their chances.

When the Dutch gained an edge in the second half, they too failed to profit.

The sides know each other too well and that may account for the failure of either side to convert their corners. Germany had four, the Dutch only two.

Young German Max Landshut had a good chance in the 15 minutes of sudden death extra time as he forced his way into the Dutch circle but shot wide.

Then the Germans thought they had scored the golden goal as Bjorn Michel appeared to get a touch into goal but umpire Ray O'Connor from Ireland ruled against him.

German coach Bernard Peters said the touch in by Michel was "a correct goal" and Dutch manager Floris Bovelander said he also thought it should have been given.

Peters added: "The Dutch were the best team over the whole tournament but I am a little sad about this umpiring decision. You can say it was a little bit unlucky for us".

The Germans have an impressive record in penalty competitions, especially against the Dutch, but they did not take them well on this occasion after Sascha Reinelt had converted the first of the shootout.

Dutch goalkeeper Vogels then saved from Kunz, Witthaus and Crone.

The Netherlands did not fare much better at first, though Taeke Taekama converted their second and, crucially, Piet Geeris and Ronald Brouwer their last two. Taekama finished as top scorer at the tournament with seven goals.

Earlier on Sunday, Pakistan staged a superb recovery to come from 3-1 down and beat India 4-3 in the third-place match, which briefly threatened to be halted by a free-for-all punch-up.

The match was marred by a clash between Pakistan's Muhammad Saqlain and India's S S Gill which led to players from both teams squaring up to each other.

The umpires showed green cards to the captains of both teams and made them call their teams together to cool their behavior and the warning paid off as temperatures finally cooled.

The match was only the second between the fierce political and sporting rivals in six years, the previous one finishing in an 3- 2 victory for India earlier in this tournament.

Pakistan's bronze medal was the first it has won in the event since being a runner-up in 1998.

Australia finally won a match after five successive defeats with a 3-0 victory over South Korea in the fifth-place match.