LONDON – The Netherlands women won their second successive Olympic hockey gold by beating world champion Argentina 2-0 Friday with both goals scored from second-half penalty corners. The Dutch netted from their third corner in the 45th minute through Carlien Dirkse van den Heuvel's rebound and nine minutes later Maartje Paumen got their second to wrap up the victory. The two sides had largely canceled each other out in the first half but the Dutch took control after the break – leaving Argentina hardly any space to threaten. “We saved the best for last. We were so on the ball, so aggressive. Crazy,” said Naomi van As, who already won gold in Beijing. “Maartje and me, we looked at each other during the break and I said to her ‘we're going to grab it'. We dominated.” So they did in the second half. Argentina keeper Florencia Mutio saved Paumen's direct shot but had no chance with Van den Heuvel's rebound. That set the sea of orange fans roaring and a Dutch brass band picking up their tunes before Paumen scored with a hard drag flick just below the crossbar from a penalty corner. Paumen, who scored 11 times at the Beijing Games, has an Olympic record total of 14 goals, though the Dutch skipper had not scored in London until the semifinal against New Zealand when she grabbed two penalty corner goals that kept her side in the tournament after they trailed twice. Max Caldas, the Dutch coach, said the victory showed his side's global dominance. The Dutch victory again shattered Argentina captain Luciana Aymar's dream of achieving her first Olympic title. But the record seven-time world player of the year, who celebrated her 35th birthday Friday, refused to rule out that she would come back trying for Olympic gold at Rio in 2016. Aymar, who has won every major title except Olympic gold, had said as recently as last week she would retire from international hockey. Asked after the match about her plans, however, she said repeatedly she just did not know. Earlier, hosts Britain beat New Zealand 3-1 to take bronze, its first Olympic medal in 20 years. In the men's section, the Netherlands gave Britain's men a hockey lesson with a 9-2 semifinal victory and set-up a final against Beijing champion Germany, who earlier beat world champion Australia 4-2 in an open match. — Reuters
