‘Lack of fitness main reason for defeats’
Hockey experts outline mistakes for early exit from Junior World Cup.
Former Olympian Shehnaz Sheikh said that the team lost the battle after the 6-1 defeat against Germany in the second match. PHOTO: hockeyindia.org/
KARACHI:
Former Olympian Shehnaz Sheikh said that a lack of fitness and tactics were the key reasons behind Pakistan’s dismal performance at the Junior Hockey World Cup 2013 in India.
Pakistan failed to progress into the last-eight of the tournament, finishing third in the group of four, only a step ahead of Egypt.
They barely won against Egypt, the lowest ranked side in the pool, 3-2 in their opening match.
Sheikh said that the team lost the battle after the 6-1 defeat against Germany in the second match. The greenshirts drew the last pool match to Belgium 2-2 on Tuesday.
“Playing against Belgium was just a formality,” Sheikh told The Express Tribune. “We went out of the running with the defeat from Germany. There was no way that Pakistan could’ve scored 11 goals against Belgium.”
Sheikh pointed out that the team only scored six goals and conceded 10 in their three matches.
“The problem was the lack of fitness in our players. They just can’t play back-to-back matches, and hence seemed exhausted in the second match against Germany.”
Sheikh said that the coaches and the team management include former players who were all defenders in their time.
“Pakistan played a very defensive game,” he said. “There was no balance between attack and defense.”
“If you look at the composition of the team and the management you’ll see that even Manzoorul Hassan was a defender in his time.
“They need to understand that we can’t survive without playing an attacking game. The forwards had no confidence.”
Olympian Hanif Khan echoed Sheikh’s views on the coaches and the management.
“Rana Mujahid trained these players for four years, and then just handed over the team to Manzoor at the last moment,” said Khan. “It’s not only unfair to Manzoor but also to the players. Throughout the tournament they seemed uncomfortable.
“The players can only follow the instructions. They are talent but mismanaged. Rana should’ve finished the job instead of just brushing his hands off the responsibility after he was elected as the secretary Pakistan Hockey Federation.”
Meanwhile, former captain and Olympian Rehan Butt said that the players did not have the capacity to deliver in the first place.
“This lot didn’t have the talent. It’s up to the players to deliver in the field and coaches can only help to a certain extent,” said Butt. “The goal-keepers were disappointing and overall they failed to perform.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2013.
Former Olympian Shehnaz Sheikh said that a lack of fitness and tactics were the key reasons behind Pakistan’s dismal performance at the Junior Hockey World Cup 2013 in India.
Pakistan failed to progress into the last-eight of the tournament, finishing third in the group of four, only a step ahead of Egypt.
They barely won against Egypt, the lowest ranked side in the pool, 3-2 in their opening match.
Sheikh said that the team lost the battle after the 6-1 defeat against Germany in the second match. The greenshirts drew the last pool match to Belgium 2-2 on Tuesday.
“Playing against Belgium was just a formality,” Sheikh told The Express Tribune. “We went out of the running with the defeat from Germany. There was no way that Pakistan could’ve scored 11 goals against Belgium.”
Sheikh pointed out that the team only scored six goals and conceded 10 in their three matches.
“The problem was the lack of fitness in our players. They just can’t play back-to-back matches, and hence seemed exhausted in the second match against Germany.”
Sheikh said that the coaches and the team management include former players who were all defenders in their time.
“Pakistan played a very defensive game,” he said. “There was no balance between attack and defense.”
“If you look at the composition of the team and the management you’ll see that even Manzoorul Hassan was a defender in his time.
“They need to understand that we can’t survive without playing an attacking game. The forwards had no confidence.”
Olympian Hanif Khan echoed Sheikh’s views on the coaches and the management.
“Rana Mujahid trained these players for four years, and then just handed over the team to Manzoor at the last moment,” said Khan. “It’s not only unfair to Manzoor but also to the players. Throughout the tournament they seemed uncomfortable.
“The players can only follow the instructions. They are talent but mismanaged. Rana should’ve finished the job instead of just brushing his hands off the responsibility after he was elected as the secretary Pakistan Hockey Federation.”
Meanwhile, former captain and Olympian Rehan Butt said that the players did not have the capacity to deliver in the first place.
“This lot didn’t have the talent. It’s up to the players to deliver in the field and coaches can only help to a certain extent,” said Butt. “The goal-keepers were disappointing and overall they failed to perform.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2013.