Ronald Brouwer's golden goal gave the Netherlands a 2-1 win over Spain in the finals of the Olympic men's hockey qualifying tournament in Madrid on Saturday.
Spain could not build on the 31st minute goal by Santiago Freixa as the Dutch bounced back with a 44th minute equaliser from Teun de Nooijer and then closed the game when Ronald Brouwer scored the stunner in the very first minute of the extra-time.
Thus, Netherlands yet again denied Spain a title triumph, having beaten them in the finals of the 1996 Olympic final and 1998 World Cup, while avenging their semi-final defeat in last year's European championship.
The Dutch also won the qualifying tournament for the second time, having achieved the feat in 1996 at Barcelona, while Spain had to be content with the second spot.
Crisp passing bouts and flowing counter-attacks marked the play during regulation period as the teams dominated by terms. The Spanish were at their creative best while the very physical Dutch excelled in tactical play.
Spain did well to withstand the early Dutch onslaughts before coming back strongly into the game with a series of well-planned moves. But so solid was the Dutch defense that the Spanish forwards found themselves running to a wall.
However, nearing half-time, the Dutch were severely punished for a monumental blunder by Floris Evers who allowed himself to be dispossessed by the ever-enterprising Pol Amat who then cut into the circle and crossed to Santiago Freixa to score.
Spain then proceeded to maintain the pressure, but the Dutch showed the composure to shrug off the reverse. Gradually, the Netherlands gained the upper hand and before long, equalised from a goal that reflected the genius of Teun de Nooijer.
Deftly sidestepping defenders, de Nooijer came in from the left and slammed the ball to the right of the goalkeeper with a thunderous hit, and the Dutch were back into the match.
Ironically, the goal came when the Dutch were reduced to 10 men following the yellow card suspension of Bram Lomans for his body-check on Juan Escarre.
The Dutch had yet another chance to clinch the issue but a Lomans penalty corner drag-flick came off the post and the game spilled into extra-time.
The death came suddenly for Spain when Ronald Brouwer sliced through the defense all on his and from an acute angle, let fly a reverse hit that squeezed through between the goalkeeper and the post.
Final Standings:
1. The Netherlands
2. Spain
3. Pakistan
4. India
5. Great Britain
6. New Zealand
7. South Africa
8. Belgium
9. Poland
10. Malaysia
11 Canada
12 Japan
