World champions Australia suffered a bitter 3-2 defeat to Spain on Thursday and lost the chance to defend their title in the Olympic men's hockey in Beijing.

The fourth-ranked Spain get their first shot for gold in 12 years. They lost to Germany at 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Australia took a 2-0 lead with one goal from Des Abbott in the first minute and the other from Eddie Ockenden in the 37th.

However, Spain came back with two goals both from Eduard Tubau in the 39th and 44th. Covertion of a penalty corner by Santiago Freixa in the 68th minute finally gifted Spain the 3-2 win.

Bevan George, the Australian captain thought they played quite well but not good enough to keep the 2-0 lead in the first half. "We have a Bronze medal match to go for. We will play hard to win it. It is the Olympics. We are not here to have fun," he said.

"It is my last time to coach in the Olympics. I will retire after the Games, so it is very important for me." said Australian coach Barry Dancer.

"We had a good start and put a lot of pressure in the field. Generally speaking, we played very well. But it is very disappointing that we cannot fight for a gold medal now," he noted.

Spain's coach Maurits Hendriks said his team did a very good job today. "The match was dominated by Australia in the second half. The most important thing for us was to make attacks," he said, adding that they finally did not allow Australia to come back at the 2-2 draw.

Spain now contend with Germany for gold and Australia play the Netherlands for bronze.

(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2008)