THE Hockeyroos have been denied their first global title in 10 years when overwhelmed 5-1 by Olympic champions Holland in the women’s World League hockey final in Tucuman, Argentina.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Australia rocked the Dutch when Anna Flanagan scored first in the sixth minute from a penalty corner and the unfancied world No 5 still held the lead at halftime.
However, the floodgates opened from the 43rd minute as Holland poured on the pressure - and the goals - with captain Maartje Paumen scoring a brace.
Holland defied a capacity 6000-strong crowd in hockey-mad Tucuman who had adopted the previously unbeaten Australia as their second team after host Argentina.
The Hockeyroos had endeared themselves to the locals with their attacking brand of play, scoring 15 goals in their previous five games.
And the Argentina faithful wanted sweet revenge after Holland downed the world No 1 host nation in the semi-finals.
But the Dutch proved too good for Australia who had a chance to claim their first major world title since the 2003 Champions Trophy.
It was also the first global final they had contested since the 2009 Champions Trophy decider.
The locals had little to cheer about following the bronze medal playoff where England downed Argentina 4-2 in a penalty shootout after scores were level at 1-1 at fulltime.
It marked the first time since the 2006 Champions Trophy that Argentina had failed to claim a medal at a major tournament.
For world No 3 England, goalkeeper Maddie Hinch pulled off two saves in the shootout and defender Sally Walton went from villain to hero when she netted the winning penalty, making up for her own goal in regulation time.
In other results, New Zealand downed China 1-0 in the 5th-6th playoff while Germany defeated China 7-4 in a 7th-8th classification game shootout. AAP