17 July 2004	Saturday	28 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, July 16: Pakistan rolled off their Olympic hockey preparations on Friday with their coach Roelant Oltmans setting up priority of reaching the semifinals but termed the lack of time the biggest 'enemy'.

"I have said and will repeat short time is the biggest enemy for us as I took the charge of Pakistan side barely eight months ago. What I am concentrating on now is the first match against the world champions Germany.

"But to reach the semifinals will be my first priority and then we will look ahead. All the participants are thinking on the same lines. Even the Germans have semifinals in their minds first rather making tall claims of gold," Oltmans told Dawn after the evening session at Hockey Club of Pakistan.

The Dutchman has 18 players in the training camp and will shortlist two of them either before team's departure on July 27 for tour of Spain or during the trip. Although the coach refrained from disclosing the players to be dropped for Athens Games from August 13, most probably Mohammad Sarwar and Imran will be axed.

"Sarwar has improved physically a lot, but it is true that he failed to live up to the expectations after joining the team," the coach said when asked about player's prospects.

Pakistan are scheduled to play two games against Spain and will spent almost a week having recreation before travelling to final destination - the Greek city of Athens where they will play a practice match against New Zealand.

Oltmans agreed the Europeans were the major threat and would the biggest hurdle in Pakistan's way if one takes the results of the month-long European tour into consideration.

"It is really hard to beat teams like Germany, they are the world and European champions and had ample time to prepare. We lost all the four matches against Germany, two each against the Netherlands and England. "But then we beat the Australians twice who are one of the top sides in the world. But recent defeats against Germany will be a psychological disadvantage for us," he said.

Oltmans brushed aside the impression that Ahmad Alam was the number one goalkeeper or he could regain the same position, saying performance and physical fitness were the sole criteria and not the seniority of the player.

"I am not bothered how many matches Alam has played. Sallu (Salman) has great potential and is very good at small ball game despite being many years junior to Alam. I have yet to decide who will be the number one Pakistan goalie. I will take the decision probably before departing for Spain," coach remarked.

Salman has been Pakistan's number one goalkeeper since Oltmans took over in December last year, while Ahmad has played second fiddle although having 14 years experience.

Oltmans was visibly upset over comments by few Pakistani experts about penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas's performance during the European tour. "It is really discouraging and absurd to say Sohail has performed below par since his ratio of conversion was almost 46 per cent during the European tour. What else do people want."

The Dutchman, however, did not agree the team was heavily relying on Sohail rather than score through field attempts. "Hockey is team game and to rely only on Sohail will be unfair. We scored field goals too against India and the Europeans."

Oltmans agreed that his side had been on the defensive contrary to its previous attacking flair. He cited shift in left- half Waseem Ahmad's position to centre-half as the reason for being defensive.

"We are playing defensively because Waseem is playing as centre-half most of the time. He is a very intelligent player and was never truly utilised before. He is the brain of the team."

The coach said team was now a different outfit since after he took over the reins and had improved in fitness and defence. The Dutchman refused to comment on centre-half Mohammad Saqlain's removal, saying "what happened is purely between me and him and I don't like to discuss it now."

"There is no effect on the team after Saqlain's removal." Asked to comment on chief selector Akhtar Rasool's statement in which he said team would be finalized after selection committee's approval and consultation, coach hoped "things would settle after an arrangement in a cordial environment."

"If selection committee is part of the system I have no objection. But I will say something only if the selection committee disagrees on final 16 approved by me." Meanwhile, Oltmans's deputy Tahir Zaman did not report at the camp because of some domestic problem, while goal keeping coach Ronald Jensen and manager Lt-Col Yousuf Baig were present.