Holland were left ruing missed opportunites as German eves upset their more fancied rivals 2-1 to claim their first ever Olympic hockey gold on Thursday.
Germany's win must have provided some consolation to their men's team which was tamed by Holland in the semifinals on Wednesday.
Thursday's triumph was also a perfect revenge for the Germans who had lost the league encounter between the two sides last week.
Germany scored both their goals in the first half -- Anke Kuehn from a penalty corner in the fifth minute and Franziska Gude in the 21st -- before Holland reduced the margin through a Maartje Scheepstra strike three minutes into the second half.
Holland, who started the match as favourites, frittered away a number of chances including five penalty corners whereas their rivals converted the lone penalty corner that came their way.
In the bronze medal match played earlier in the day, Argentina recorded a last-gasp 1-0 win over China with Luciana Aymar scoring in the final minute.
Argentina, silver medallists in the Sydney Games, were given a tough fight by the Asians, who had a good first 35 minutes in which they put some pressure on the opposition defence.
{{/usCountry}}Argentina, silver medallists in the Sydney Games, were given a tough fight by the Asians, who had a good first 35 minutes in which they put some pressure on the opposition defence.
{{/usCountry}}But the second half belonged to the world champions, who came to the Games as overwhelming favourites for the gold medal but had to be content with the bronze.