Holland beat Germany in men's hockey semifinal

Holland overcame a fighting Germany 3-2 in the semifinal to set themselves on course for a hat-trick of men's hockey titles.

Holland overcame a fighting Germany 3-2 in the semifinal to set themselves on course for a hat-trick of Olympic men's hockey titles on Wednesday.

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Holland, gold medallists in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2000 Sydney Games, rallied back superbly after being a goal down as early in the third minute to move into the final, where they would meet the winners of the second semifinal between Australia and Spain, to be played later in the day.

Proving their superiority in the clash of the European powerhouses, Holland slammed home through Teake Taekema (6th minute), Marten Eikelboom (47th) and Teun de Nooijer (51st).

Germany's spirited challenge was made possible thorugh the strikes of Matthias Witthaus, who gave them the lead early on, and Christoph Bechmann (59th) .

The semifinal got to a shocking start with Germany taking the lead in the third minute when they slammed home from their very first move into the opposition circle.

The celebrations following the Witthaus goal had hardly died down when Holland struck back through a penalty stroke which they earned when German skipper Florian Kunj was hit on the leg on the goal line from the first penalty corner of the match.