Hockey Champions Trophy: GB lose out to Germany for bronze
- Published
Britain's men missed out on Champions Trophy bronze, losing 1-0 to Germany in a third-place play-off in London.
GB dominated the possession in the first half and were unlucky not to go ahead when Nick Catlin struck the post.
Olympic champions Germany grew in confidence after the break, with Marco Miltkau poking home the winner in the third period.
Australia took gold with a 3-1 shootout win over India in the final, which finished goalless.
"We need to start taking our chances," said GB captain Barry Middleton.
"We had more energy and more intensity, which is what we've been looking for throughout the tournament but we need to work on breaking the best teams down when it matters."
With many of the GB team having competed as part of the England squad at last year's European Championships, they were looking for revenge following a semi-final shootout loss to the Germans in 2015.
They drew 1-1 with Germany earlier in the 2016 Champions Trophy Pool stage, but created few clear-cut opportunities in the bronze-medal match.
"We weren't good enough in the final third," head coach Bobby Crutchley told BBC Sport.
"I supposed that's at least made it very clear for me what we need to work on over the next few weeks."
Goalkeeper George Pinner - GB's standout player of the tournament - believes GB can produce when it matters in Rio this summer.
"It's up to us to finally deliver in the important games," he told BBC Sport.
"If we go to the Olympics and win a medal then no-one will remember this [result], but we have to learn a lot from this."
GB will name their 16-strong Olympic squad for Rio 2016 on 28 June.
Although the British programme contains 25 players, it is expected that the 16 players will come from the 18 who represented GB in London this week.
It means two will be named as 'alternates' and miss out on the Games unless other succumb to injuries between now and the Olympics.
"We've competed with and beaten all the top teams in the world over the last few years, it's just about being consistent," Dan Fox told BBC Sport.
"There's a lot of belief [that we can win a medal] but it's no good just saying that, we have to go and prove it."
Britain's women begin their bid for a first Champions Trophy title against Argentina on Saturday.
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