- "There is no greater shame"
Dutch hockey national team player Duco Telgenkamp regrets his outburst after winning the Olympic gold against Germany. "I shouldn't have done that, it was the emotions," said the 22-year-old. "It wasn't very smart of me to go back to the goalkeeper again. I mean, we won, and then I shouldn't have let myself get carried away like that."
After the final, Telgenkamp stood in front of German goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg and put his finger to his lips. Then he touched the keeper's helmet. In response to this action, German forward Niklas Wellen ran towards the forming Dutch celebration to give Telgenkamp a piece of his mind, leading to heated arguments.
Criticism of this behavior also came from Dutch national coach Jeroen Delmee. "Emotions are part of the game, but he still needs to get used to a few international hockey rules, he's still very young," said Delmee: "You should never touch another player, unfortunately, his emotions got the better of him." According to the coach, Danneberg's statements in the media were the trigger for Telgenkamp's mistake.
Telgenkamp confirmed this: "It personally bothered me that Danneberg said we were afraid of them." Literally, the German goalkeeper said before the final: "We're going in there with our chests out, because I think the Dutch are really afraid of us." After the final whistle, Danneberg also condemned Telgenkamp's action. "It seems like he had quite a few fuses blow. My deepest sympathy for such unsportsmanlike behavior," said the 21-year-old: "The fans booed him when he received the medal. There's no greater shame than that."
German coach turns the page
German coach André Henning believes that the intense dispute after the dramatic Olympic final will not permanently strain the relationship between the German and Dutch hockey national teams: "We'll also be able to move past this and forgive the Dutch. We congratulated them too."
Despite the Olympic victory, Duco Telgenkamp's actions towards German goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg led to heated arguments and criticism from both German and Dutch sides. Telgenkamp's behavior, fueled by Danneberg's pre-final remarks, resulted in unsportsmanlike conduct and a less than celebration-worthy medal ceremony.
