KARACHI, Aug 8: The Pakistan national hockey team manager, Dr Yousuf Baig said that the team was physically fit and would display their real strength in the Athens Olympics.

Talking to the media on Sunday he said that there were no injuries to any of the players and all the players were 100 percent fit. About the recent performance of the team in the Pre Olympics warm up three-nation tournament held at Alcala la Real, Spain he said.

"All the players played really very well and this is a good sign as the win against Spain will give the team the required boost needed for the Olympics Games."

The three-nation tournament featured Pakistan, Argentina and Spain. Pakistan finished on top with a draw against Argentina 2-2 and a win against Spain 3-1, while Spain claimed second spot with a win and a loss and Argentina was third with a draw and a loss.

Yousuf said that the team has shown tremendous improvement physically and the mental strength shown by them in the match against Spain was remarkable. He said that beating Spain 3-1 in their homeland was not an easy task.

He observed that the win against Spain would give them an edge over them in the Athens Olympics. Yousuf said, " Spain totally outclassed us in the Pre-Olympics tournament held at Madrid and the team was desperately looking for a win against them."

Talking about the chances of Pakistan winning a medal in the Athens Olympics he said, "We are in the pool of death as we have to play against the top teams like Germany, Spain, Great Britain and Korea in the pool matches which makes the competition very tough."

But he expressed hope by saying that Pakistan's preparation for the Athens Olympics was very good and had very strong chances of reaching the semi-finals.

Yousuf agreed that Sohail would be their main weapon in the extravaganza but on the same time he added that all the players would have to give their utmost and to play like a unit to bring back lost glory to their country. -PPI