Provocation overshadows men’s hockey final at the Olympics

The Dutch national hockey player Duco Telgenkamp regrets his outburst after the Olympic victory against Germany. “I shouldn’t have done that, it was the emotions,” said the 22-year-old. “It wasn’t smart of me to go to the goalkeeper again. I mean, we won and I shouldn’t have let myself go like that.”

After the final, Telgenkamp stood in front of the German goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg and put his index finger over his mouth. He then grabbed the goalkeeper’s helmet. In response to this action, the German striker Niklas Wellen ran towards the Oranje cheering crowd to tell Telgenkamp what he thought. There was a heated exchange of words.

Dutch national coach Jeroen Delmee also criticized the behavior. “Emotions are part of the game, but he still has to get used to a few rules of international hockey, he is still very young,” said Delmee. “You should never touch another player, unfortunately his emotions got the better of him.” According to the coach, the trigger for Telgenkamp’s misstep was Danneberg’s statements in the media.

Hockey player explains his outburst

Telgenkamp confirmed this: “It bothered me personally that Danneberg said we were afraid of them.” The German goalkeeper had said before the final: “We’re going in there with our chests really puffed out, because I think the Dutch are really afraid of us.”

After the final whistle, Danneberg also condemned Telgenkamp’s action. “It seems that he lost quite a few fuses. My deepest condolences for such unsportsmanlike conduct,” said the 21-year-old. “The fans booed him when he received the medal. There is no greater disgrace.”

National coach André Henning does not believe that the fierce dispute after the dramatic Olympic final will have a lasting impact on the relationship between the national hockey teams from Germany and the Netherlands: “We will be able to put that behind us and we are happy for the Dutch. We congratulated them too.”