A sudden death penalty goal by Christopher Zeller helped world No. 2 Germany win 4-3(1-1) over the third-ranked Netherlands in the Olympic men's hockey semifinals on Thursday.

It was the first sudden death round in Beijing Olympic hockey tournament.

The two powers held on each other tightly from the start. As neither team succeeded in their two attempts, the first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

In the 19th minute of the second half, a penalty corner, the first in the match, was awarded for the Netherlands but the ball was hit away by German goalkeeper Timo Wess. With four minutes left, Timme Hoyng scored a penalty corner and put the Netherlands 1-0 ahead.

Just one minute later, Germany also got a chance for penalty corner but they did not catch it. With only two minutes to go, Philipp Zeller scored a field goal and leveled the score 1-1 at full time.

In the extra time, neither team made the golden goal which forced the penalty shootout. However, the penalty shootout ended with 3-3 tie.

In the sudden death round, Christopher Zeller found the net with a shot, but the Dutch penalty corner specialist Taeke Taekema hit the ball too high and it flew over the post. Finally the marathon semifinals came to an end with Germany's 4-3 win.

Athens bronze medal owner Germany will clash with either Spain or Australia for gold contention, and the Dutch, runner-up at Athens, will face either of them for bronze on Saturday.

(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2008)