'Arrogant' GB hockey women were 'lucky to win in 2016' say Dutch after thrashing Brits 5-1
The Netherlands' top female hockey stars labelled their GB rivals "arrogant" after beating them 5-1 on Wednesday, and said the Brits' Olympic gold victory over them in 2016 was "pure luck".
The convincing win over Team GB at the Oi Stadium means the Dutch world No 1 side have reached their fifth successive Olympic final.
Since their Rio Olympic final defeat five years ago, the Dutch have played over 100 matches and lost just two competitive internationals. They are now 45 matches unbeaten following their dismantling of Great Britain, who will next play for bronze on Friday.
Alyson Annan's side largely kept their counsel after Rio, instead taking out their anger on the pitch.
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However, some players took umbrage at comments by Team GB ahead of the semi-final that the famous shoot-out defeat would still be in the back of the Dutch team's minds.
“They may say it hurts us, but that just gave me energy,” Margot van Geffen, who played in Rio and starred in their latest win, told hockey.nl, Dutch hockey federation's official website.
“I can remember a lot of quarter-finals, semi-finals and other tournaments where we humiliated them.
“Take, for example, the European Championship in 2019, in which we won 8-0 [against England]. That hurts too, don’t you think? You also see today: it was pure luck what they put down in Rio. It’s great that we’re sending them home like this today.”
Meanwhile, Eva de Goede, the current Dutch captain, also weighed in on their r.
“I think everyone had their own personal reason why we wanted to beat them so badly," admitted De Goede.
“We have the feeling that those girls always have a lot of bravado, almost arrogant. We really wanted to show today that they certainly don’t come near us.
“I’m glad we were able to play our own game and knock them all out.”
After their superb shoot-out win against Spain in the quarter-finals, Team GB will now play either India or Argentina as they attempt to win a third successive medal at the Olympics following London 2012 bronze.
Following the Dutch defeat, goalkeeper Maddie Hinch said: "We can still be proud. We haven't become a bad team after one game, and we are still going to fight for this bronze medal, which we would be incredibly proud of if we come away with it."
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