OLYMPICS / Barcelona 1992: Olympic Round-Up: Spain take football gold (CORRECTED)

CORRECTION (PUBLISHED 12 JUNE 1994) APPENDED TO THIS ARTICLE

A LAST-MINUTE goal from Francisco Narvaez gave a crowd of 95,000 in Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium the desired result last night: a 3-2 victory for Spain over Poland in the final of the football tournament.

The Poles had stood firm in the face of severe pressure before taking the lead in first-half injury time through Wojciech Kowalczyk, the 20-year-old Legia Warsaw striker.

Five minutes after the restart Abelardo Fernandez equalised with a header from a free-kick and then Narvaez put Spain ahead after robbing the defender Tomasz Waldoch.

However, Ryszard Staniek soon equalised, despite pleas for offside - setting the scene for Narvaez to collect his late second goal.

MICHAEL HILGERS scored both goals as Germany defeated Australia 2-1 and captured the men's hockey gold medal. In a tough, attacking match, the centre-forward gave the Germans a flying start, crashing in his first after only 90 seconds to give a lead which Germany kept with tight discipline.

Germany, the Olympic champions in 1972 and runners-up in 1988 and 1984, dominated the first half against Australia, who have now been Olympic runners-up three times but never won.

THE Princess Royal, President of the International Equestrian Federation and the British Olympic Association, conceded yesterday, in something of an understatement, that Friday's showjumping chaos at the Barcelona Polo Club which saw spectators throwing plastic bottles into the ring, did not help the image of the sport.

'I didn't think it was a great help to have that kind of day. The people who came were patently not well aware of what was happening and what the point of the exercise was,' the Princess said.

John and Michael Whitaker were among the highest placed of the many riders who pulled out after realising the competition was not compulsory and that they had enough points to qualify in the top 44 for today's individual final.

NEVER mind the action in the ring, a brawl outside the Olympic village resulted in three British boxers being sent home early from Barcelona and there is bruised pride all round after news of the incident leaked out yesterday.

The three involved when the gloves came off - Paul Lawson, Peter Richardson and Steve Wilson - arrived home on Thursday night when spare seats were found for them on a flight bound for London. 'National pride' was one excuse given for the scrap, subsequently broken up by Spanish police, with a group of Iranian boxers.

GOING like a train may not be quite the expression, but the British canoeist Andrew Train was happy with his effort yesterday in Castelldefels. Competing in the C-1 1,000 metres final, he finished sixth and was left celebrating the best performance of his career. Train said: 'It's a dream come true. I've been canoeing for 25 years and for the past 15 I've been dreaming of making an Olympic final.' You can add to that the thought that Train demonstrates the true Olympic spirit.

CORRECTION

Apology

PAUL Lawson, Peter Richardson and Steve Wilson have asked us to point out that they were not sent home from the Barcelona Olympics following a brawl outside the Olympic Village, as we reported in August 1992. They left early of their own volition. We apologise if any reader understood otherwise.