Netherlands

The Netherlands have beaten Germany 2-0 to win the Women's Champions' Trophy, earning some compensation for losing their gold-medal showdown at the Athens Olympics.

The Netherlands earned its third Champions' Trophy title after victories in 1987 and 2000, while denying Germany its first tournament title.

Argentina edged Australia 3-2 to win the bronze medal, while China won its first match to claim fifth by defeating New Zealand 3-0.

In an initially cautious final, a day after the teams drew 1-1 in round-robin play, Kim Lammers claimed her fourth goal of the tournament then Naomi Van As doubled the score four minutes after halftime and allowed the Dutch to cruise home.

Germany, which upset the Netherlands 2-1 in the Olympic final, struggled to break open the Dutch defence until the end, when it forced two penalty corners in the final minute.

Lammers fooled German goalkeeper Yvonne Frank and turned on her right shoulder to score the opening goal in the 24th minute.

Germany had only one shot on goal in the first half-hour. A German goal by Fanny Rinne in the 32nd minute was overruled because nobody touched it in the circle.

Both teams were more aggressive in the second half, and Van As made it 2-0 with a high shot Frank only got a partial arm to.

Frank was still named the tournament's best goalie. Alejandra Gulla of Argentina was the Trophy high-scorer with six goals, though she failed to add to her tally in the bronze-medal match against Australia.

Tournament MVP Luciana Aymar, also named the world player of the year, set up Argentina's first two goals against Australia by Cecilia Rognoni and scored a magnificent winner when she feinted left and made a reverse shot over Australia goalie Cindy Morgan in the 54th minute.

It was a fitting farewell for Argentina coach Sergio Vigil, who announced it would be his last major tournament. Vigil led Argentina to silver at the 2000 Olympics and bronze in Athens, and victories at the 2001 Champions' Trophy and 2002 world championship.

Australia, which has won six of the 12 Women's Champions Trophy events, went ahead twice, scoring first through Karen Smith in the eighth minute, then Suzie Faulkner on a deflection a minute before halftime for 2-1.

But Argentina equalised to the relief of a capacity Jockey Club, when Rognoni flicked in a pass from Aymar in the 19th, and Rognoni curled in a shot over Morgan for 2-2 in the 48th.

"I'm very proud of my players even if we didn't win a medal," said Australia coach David Bell, who also was coaching his last match. "They are still very young and have a lot of growing to do."

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