Guests hoping to knock out hosts having finally acclimatised to conditions. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI: The Pakistan national hockey team will take on hosts Malaysia in the semi-finals of Men’s Asian Champions Trophy today with one eye on a finals berth and another on improving their world ranking.
The Greenshirts, who were defeated 4-2 by Malaysia in their round-robin match last week, recently dropped from 10th to 13th in the rankings, and a win over the home side would not only avenge that defeat but also earn them some valuable ranking points in times when they don’t get to play too many international matches.
Head coach Khawaja Junaid put down that defeat to Malaysia to the players’ unfamiliarity of playing conditions — something which he says will not be an issue this time around.
“The team is fully prepared to knock Malaysia out and prove that we are the better team. We have now got used to the rainy conditions and the turf as well, and our adaptation reflects in our recent performances,” Junaid told The Express Tribune.
“Even in the defeat against India we scored two goals and at one point were leading against a sixth-ranked team, which is a promising sign,” he added.
To cut down on errors, the players have been watching videos of their defeats. “We have been working on the errors pointed out by our coaches after every game,” said defender Rashid Mehmood. “We are confident of not repeating them again in the semi-final.”
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Imran Butt reminded critics that the team had been deprived of international hockey since April before entering this tournament and so it is unreasonable to expect them to fire on all cylinders.
“The players were out of the international circuit and hadn’t faced any of these teams in the recent past so how can we put on a good show,” Butt asked rhetorically.
Pakistan booked their place in the knockout stage by finishing third out of six teams in round-robin group, winning three out of their five matches.
In addition to the aforementioned Malaysia defeat, the four-time former world champions also lost 3-2 to India, but secured victories over Japan, China and South Korea.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 29th, 2016.
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