02 March 2004	Tuesday	10 Muharram 1425

KARACHI, March 1: Pakistan will take on Canada in its first match on Tuesday in Olympics Qualifiers at Madrid Spain as favourites to win the opener. Both the teams played 15 times against each other, with Pakistan winning 10 and losing just three as two ties ended in draw. Pakistan netted 57 goals and conceded 24 goals.

Pakistan will play its second match against Belgium on March 4, against India on March 6, Malaysia on March 8 and the last pool match against New Zealand on March 10.

Germany, Australia, South Korea, Argentina and Egypt have already qualified for Olympics. Twelve teams feature in the Olympics hockey competition. Top seven teams from this Olympic qualifiers will qualify for Olympic Games to be played in Athens August.

The event will start from March 2 and cross-pool matches from March 11 and this is where trouble begins.

Team: Muhammad Nadeem (Captain), Ahmed Alam, Salman Akber (Goalkeepers), Ali Reza, Sohail Abbas, Zeeshan Ashraf, Ghazanfar Ali, Muhammad Saqlain, Dilawar Hussain, Wasim Ahmed, Adnan Maqbool (mid fielders), Rehan Butt, Mudassir Ali Khan, Kashif Jawwad, Shabbir Hussain, Shakil Abbasi, Muhammad Sarwar, Salim Khalid (Forwards).

Team Officials: Manager: Col. Mohammed Yousuf Baig. Head Coach: Roelant Oltmans. Coach: Tahir Zaman. Video Analyst: Roberto Tolento. Goalkeeper trainer: Ronald Jansen: Physiotherapist: Dereck Verder. -PPI