“I’ve played in eight Champions Trophy events and it has always been a highly testing event,” said Alam. “I call it a dangerous trophy because there are no underdogs and all the teams are world-class teams hungry for victories.” He said it will not be right to expect the greenshirts to secure top spot in the event.
“Tournaments like Champions Trophy have all the top teams featuring. So considering these facts, one should not expect extraordinary results from the national team.”
Ahmed feels the Champions Trophy and Olympics events will serve as a bridge to the federation to establish a formidable team for the Hockey World Cup in 2014.“Both of the events are very important and we would be going with full strengths to those events. However, I feel that these events are also important for us keeping in view the 2014 World Cup. I believe that after preparing for the Champions Trophy and then for the 2012 Olympics, by the time 2014 World Cup comes, we would have established a team, which could perform impressively in the World Cup.”
Ahmed further said that Pakistan could not have clinched the Asian Games gold and a subsequent berth in the Olympics if there had not been any senior player around.
“Senior players played an instrumental role in helping Pakistan win the Asian Games. The team might not have won the title if all the senior players had been dropped or rested.”
Ahmed said that the senior players should keep themselves fit and in form so that they could be considered for the Champions Trophy and also for the Olympics.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 22nd, 2010.
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