Germany gained revenge for having their medal hopes ended by Britain by claiming fifth place in the Olympics men's hockey tournament with a clinical display.

Prevented from progressing beyond the pool stages when they were upset by Britain, Germany put together a performance which shows why many experts predicted they would claim a medal.

"After this win we aren't feeling any better about the tournament," Bjoern Michel said.

"We're very disappointed. If we had only played like we did today in the last match against Great Britain then things would be different."

Down to 10 men, Michel broke the deadlock in the 28th minute when he turned Brett Garrard and unleashed a thunderous shot past goalkeeper Simon Mason.

Reduced to 10 men again after Christoph Bechmann's temporary suspension for dissent, Oliver Domke doubled Germany's lead four minutes before the interval following a counter attack from inside their own half.

He weaved through before beating Mason with a stunning reverse stick shot.

As the Germans piled on the pressure in the second half, Mason's athletic ability and sharp reaction saves kept the scoreline respectable.

But he could do nothing to block Bechmann's sizzling shot in to the roof of the net in the 59th minute.

Germany completed the rout thanks to Tibor Weissenborn's good finish following a goal mouth scramble nine minutes from time.

Mason, despite the scoreline, insisted Britain had reason to be in upbeat mood.

"We came here to credit ourselves by playing well. But for our lottery funding to continue, we had to make the top six.

"We have bettered our world ranking. To go home and know the programme is in place, the next step is a medal in Athens."