(31 July 1996; Day 12)
The glow of a semifinal victory over Australia had barely faded before Spanish forward Javier ARNAU told the media what he hoped to see in the men's hockey gold medal game on Friday night. He wanted to line up across from the Dutch at Morris Brown College to decide which team was the best at the 1996 Olympic Games.
"Very few people have had confidence in us throughout this tournament," ARNAU said. "Even back home in the newspapers, people seem surprised that we have advanced this far. This has given us motivation. We beat Germany. We beat Pakistan. Now we want to beat the Netherlands. That way no one can say anything about us not being the best team in the world."
ARNAU got his wish in the second semifinal when the Netherlands toppled defending gold medalist Germany 3-1. Now the gold medal battle is set. A veteran Dutch team that most expected to contend for a medal against a virtual Cinderella in Spain. The orange-clad fans of the Dutch against the flag-waving Spanish fans. It sets up to be one of the more interesting, and conflicting, finals in recent Olympic Games history.
Among those who didn't expect to see the Spanish advance this far was Australian coach Frank MURRAY.
"We were surprised when they beat Germany," MURRAY said shortly after his team was defeated 2-1 in the first semifinal before a crowd of 13,119. "When they defeated Pakistan, we thought we better start doing some homework on them."
Whatever homework the Aussies had done did little good on Wednesday night. Despite numerous scoring opportunities, the Australian offense was continuously frustrated by Spanish goalkeeper Ramon JUFRESA and the Spanish defense.
"Spain has played very good hockey in this tournament," MURRAY said. "They're a very patient team and can control the pace of the game."
While Spain's final-game run has surprised many, it has not caught Spanish coach Antonio FORRELLAT off guard.
"There is great happiness tonight because we are at the point of reaching our objective (winning the gold medal)," FORRELLAT explained. "This sets a perspective for the future of Spanish hockey. And our future is to win Friday night, renew our team after the Olympics, continue to work, and think of winning in Sydney (at the 2000 Olympic Games)."
This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Kevin Henry.
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| Pin trading was one of the most popular Olympic sports, with more than 1.2 million pins changing hands during the Games in the Coca Cola Pin Trading Center at Centennial Olympic Park. |