BRETT GARRARD, the Great Britain captain, and Jason Lee, the team leader, tried to put a brave face on the squad’s worst finish at an Olympic Games since 1968. After victory on penalty strokes over South Africa in the morning heat yesterday earned his side ninth place, Garrard called for help to raise standards while Lee proclaimed himself satisfied with progress made in his ten months in charge.
“We have beaten all the teams we were supposed to,” Lee said after Simon Mason had saved a stroke to give Britain victory 4-3 after the sides had finished level at 1-1 after extra time. At least Britain finished on a winning note, having earlier beaten Egypt and Argentina too, but the scale of defeats suffered against Pakistan (8-2), Spain (5-1) and Germany (4-1) should help to focus minds on trying to bridge the gulf in class to the leading nations.