KARACHI, Feb 29: Pakistan hockey team's half-back Adnan Maqsood will join his teammates on Monday in Spain after finally being granted visa on Saturday.
The centre-half could not get visa from the Spanish embassy in Islamabad as his name was identical to a person who is on embassy's suspect list.
Adnan was intimated by Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) late Saturday night about issuance of visa which the Spanish embassy granted after security checks.
Pakistan squad is already in Madrid for the last one week to take part in the 12-nation Olympic qualifying round which starts from March 2. The green shirts face Canada in the first match on the opening day.
Forward Mohammad Sarwar will also fly to Madrid along with Adnan early Monday morning. He was also issued Spanish visa on Saturday after a delay since PHF submitted his documents late.
The pair came to Karachi on Sunday and watched evening session of Pakistan juniors at Hockey Club of Pakistan. A pool of 25 players are preparing for four-match series against The Netherlands and Malaysia starting early next month.
Both Sarwar and Adnan would be jet-lagged and probably have a night's rest before Pakistan play Canada. Sarwar, who has staged a comeback after being forced to retire by the PHF and selectors last July, said coach Roelant Oltmans would decide whether he would play against Canada.
"It will be a long flight and I think I will barely have one night between the game against Canada when I reach Madrid. Obviously I will be jet-lagged, but only coach will take decision whether I should play the first match," said Sarwar, who would be back in the squad after a lapse of almost seven months.
The veteran forward, who was called up by Oltmans for the qualifiers, overruling selectors' decision, said he had been tested as right-in and centre-forward as well during camp.
The former skipper said there were quite a few new strategies being taught by Oltmans, but focus on physical fitness was the key change in the training. "Physical fitness is the main thing now.
I also passed the required level of fitness before being inducted into the squad. Better cohesion between the forwards is another thing we have tried to develop which was missing before Oltmans came.
"Co-ordination between forward-line and half-line, how to develop an attack, and how to minimize chances and tackle a counter-attack, are few other things coach has concentrated on," he said.
