Dutch stun US for water polo gold

The Dutch were all smiles after winning gold in women's water polo

The Netherlands shocked the United States 9-8 in the Olympic gold medal match in the women's water polo.

Danielle de Bruijn was the star, scoring seven goals including the winner with 26 seconds remaining.

The Americans, the pre-tournament favourites, had to be content with a silver in Sydney and bronze in Athens.

And this time they could not stop De Bruijn, who scored twice early on as the Dutch gained a 4-0 lead and added two more scores just after half-time.

De Bruijn added two more scores just after half-time to give her country a 7-5 lead, and added the last two, both on power plays.

The US had several chances to tie it up in the last few seconds, but Elsie Windes missed an outside shot and team-mate Brenda Villa was unable to capitalise on the rebound.

The bronze medal went to Australia, who scored with eight seconds left against Hungary to send their match into overtime.

Australia then used the momentum to rally for a 12-11 win in the penalty shootout. Goalkeeper Emma Knox blocked Rita Dravucz's final shot.

US coach Guy Baker said of De Bruijn's performance: "I don't think I've ever quite seen that. It is up there with some of the great performances, especially because she did it at the Olympics. We were trying to get her stopped, but she's always been a good scorer."