Germany served an early warning that they are determined to hang on to their Olympic crown when they thrashed Great Britain 5-1 to make a dream start to their campaign. The result was GB's heaviest defeat at the hands of their old rivals and their worst start in an Olympic tournament since South Korea beat them 5-0 in Atlanta.

Danny Kerry, Britain's coach and Kate Walsh, the captain, made no attempt to hide their huge disappointment after the contest saying that they had plenty to do to pick the squad up ahead of tomorrow's (tues) clash against Argentina, the 2004 bronze medallists and number two ranked side in the world.

Kerry said the scale of the loss hurt a great deal adding:" In my three and half years in charge my main thrust has to been to get the players to motivate themselves. But this time there's no doubt the staff must play a role. We were definitely off our game in a few areas and we'll look hard at that and address it constructively. But we won't be dwelling on the defeat."

Inexplicably poor marking in defence, but more importantly inept finishing was to cost Britain dear. The Bowdon Hightown striker Jo Ellis spurned two chances in the first six minutes and after the restart, as GB fought hard to come back from 2-1 down, more opportunities were missed.

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Walsh said:"We learned a harsh lesson in not taking our chances and they were really clinical - that was the difference. We'll have a thorough and professional de-brief, thrash it all out at a players meeting and then put it to bed. The experienced players will have a big part in it and we have to pull it all together before playing Argentina."

In driving rain, both teams made tentative starts but it was Germany who took the lead through a trademark penalty corner drag flick from Fanny Rinne in the 26th minute. Crista Cullen levelled when she drilled in a low corner three minutes later before Eileen Hoffman restored the European champions' lead.

Three more goals followed after the restart as Germany delivered the killer blows against opponents struggling to find their best form.

It is some consolation to the British that Argentina were held to a 2-2 draw by the USA after the Americans snatched a late equaliser against the Pan-American champions who appeared content to sit on their lead.

In the other group, Australia staged a sensational second-half recovery fighting back from a 4-1 deficit at the break to beat Korea 5-4 in a nine-goal thriller. Holland lived up to their billing as one of the pre-tournament favourites sweeping aside South Africa in a convincing 6-0 victory.