The woman’s final of the 2012 Hockey tournament saw the Olympic holders Netherlands take on the team that took Germany apart in Athens in 2004, the impressive and dominant Argentina.

The Netherlands were aiming to emulate the great Australian team of 1996 and 2000 and become only the second woman’s side to retain the Olympic gold medal spot. The Netherlands would have surely been buoyed by the sight of their male compatriots thrashing the Great Britain side the night before in the Riverbank Arena and although many would have had Argentina down as strong favourites, there would have been no doubting the resolve in the Dutch line up.