Entering the gold medal match, it's safe to say the Netherlands had a point to prove. The Oranje placed sixth in Tokyo — their worst finish in over three decades. The Germans won the four previous Olympic meetings between the two, including a gold medal-clinching victory in 2012 and a tight one-goal win in the pool round just eight days earlier. A gold medal in Paris would mark their first in 24 years.
That motivation carried the Dutch to a 3-2 shootout win for the top prize, punctuated by a heroic deciding tally from Duco Telgenkamp in front of a crowd dripping in Netherlands orange.
After 46 scoreless minutes, the Netherlands finally broke the deadlock. Koen Bijen picked up a loose ball and chipped it into the air, drawing German goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg just far enough outside the net to leave a perfect space for Thierry Brinkman, who swiftly deflected the ball into the cage for the lead — but it wouldn't last for long. Germany immediately turned up the heat, drawing a penalty corner three minutes later. Though Thies Prinz struggled to cleanly trap the push out, he reacted quickly, shoving the ball into the goal to tie the game.
Energy remained high through the rest of regulation — despite the disruption of play by a rogue sprinkler — but neither team was able to take the lead. For the second men's tournament in a row, the gold medal match headed to a shootout.
Facing Danneberg's 8-1 career shootout record, the odds were certainly not in the Netherlands' favor. But 36-year-old Pirmin Blaak turned out to be the superior goalie, stopping three of Germany's four shootout attempts for the win.