Pakistan finish last after Dutch thrashing

Greenshirts lose 4-0 in final match of 4-Nation Tournament.

KARACHI:

Pakistan finished last at the 4-Nation Hockey Tournament after a 4-0 loss against hosts Netherlands completed their winless campaign in Amsterdam.

Netherlands, after the win against Pakistan, topped the table, which was reduced to a round-robin contest after the earlier matches were delayed. England, who fought out a draw against Pakistan, beat Germany 3-2 to finish second. Olympic champions Germany finished ahead of Pakistan after beating the Greenshirts.

However, team manager Khwaja Junaid was optimistic about the future. “There is a difference between us and the top sides,” Junaid told The Express Tribune. “We’re here to figure out our weaknesses.

“Our performance against  Netherlands and Germany has improved. But we need to work on our defence.”

Pakistan, who won a Four-Nation event in Dublin prior to the Amsterdam tournament, looked a mismatch against the hosts, who had a fiery start smashing three goals in the first-half. The Dutch added another goal after the interval to complete the drubbing.

The match also saw a few controversial decisions that left the Greenshirts fuming, resulting in the game being held up once.

“There were a couple of biased decisions,” said the manager. “A wrong penalty-corner was given and then the Dutch were allowed the goal despite breaching the five-yard rule but we won’t protest.”

On a positive note, Pakistan’s Salman Akbar finished as the best goal-keeper of the tournament.

Pakistan now meet New Zealand on July 6 before taking on Belgium on July 8 and 9. The Asian Games champions will lock horns with the Netherlands on July 15 and 16 before returning home.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2011.