Olympics: Great Britain All But Out of Contention After Dutch Win

Great Britain's men's hockey team has been effectively eliminated from Olympic competition before even taking to the field today. A 4-2 victory for the Netherlands against Pakistan secured the Dutch passage to the last four, and all but ended Team GB's hopes of a hockey medal. The men play Australia this afternoon, needing to win by at least eight clear goals to move above their opponents and into second place in pool B.

Had the Netherlands lost, defending champions Australia - with 10 points and a superior goal difference - would have qualified automatically, leaving the door ajar for Britain to record victory and pip the Dutch to a semi-final berth. However, with only seven points and a goal difference of +3, Britain's only hope now is to overhaul the Aussies, whose goal difference is currently +17 and greatly superior to that of the Netherlands.

In the earlier match, penalty corner specialist Taeke Taekema helped ensure that the Netherlands' pursuit of a medal did not falter, unleashing two vicious drag flicks to send his country through.

In pool A, Germany qualified for the semi-finals with a 3-1 defeat of New Zealand. The bronze medalists from Athens struck twice early on as they looked to have regained their touch after a shaky start that had almost wrecked their campaign. Spain take on South Korea in a match that will determine the team to accompany Germany through.