The Netherlands beat Australia 2-0 on Saturday to secure their 7th women’s hockey World Cup trophy.
“The girls played a great game,” said Dutch coach Max Caldas. “This was a big battle because in my opinion we played the second best team in the world.”
Maartje Paumen opened the scoring on 12 minutes, converting a penalty stroke which was awarded after Roos Drost got tackled by the Australian goalkeeper Rachael Lynch.
Kim Lammers, in her 200th cap, doubled the Dutch lead when she scored from the rebound after her first attempt was saved by Lynch.
Australia took their video referral on this goal because of a suspected obstruction, but the goal stood.
“We were unable to put the scoreboard pressure on,” said Australia coach Adam Commens. “At the moment, there is a gap between the Dutch and all other teams.”
Ellen Hoog could have lifted the result to 3-0, but her attempt hit the post. Hoog, selected as Player of the Tournament, added “I think we deserved the victory because we were fitter and stronger.”
Australia struggled to create promising opportunities and suffered their first loss of the tournament. Despite the defeat Commens was proud on his team’s performance: “This shows how far we have come. We played five tournaments since the London Olympics and we reached the final at all of them.”
Title defenders Argentina took the bronze medal after defeating the United States 2-1 thanks to a double from team-captain Luciana Aymar.
In the men’s competition, India won 9th place after beating South Korea 3-0.
