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| March 27, 2006 | Monday | Safar 26, 1427 |
Red card to Tariq cost us: coach
MELBORUNE, March 26: Pakistan hockey coach Asif Bajwa said on Sunday red card to Tariq Aziz in the hockey final against Australia was the turning point which resulted in 3-0 defeat. “It was the most unfortunate moment of the match for us. Playing with ten players made a huge impact. We failed to recover and lost the match,” he said.
Asif said in the second half Pakistan struggled to bridge the gaps created because of Tariq’s absence and added that Australia found it easy to mount pressure on his side.
“We did quite well in the first half but we could not implement our plans in the following session due to Tariq’s absence. We got few chances but failed to avail. There were some lapses in the deep defence which created a lot of space for the opponents,” he said while referring to nine short corners in the play.
“We will be discussing the incident after which Tariq was red carded for hitting the Australian player. We will be taking effective measures to ensure that it will not happen again,” he said.
Asif expressed his “delight” for achieving the silver but added it was unfortunate Pakistan lost in the final.
“We lacked in physical fitness. I would say Australians were better in that department of the game. We must pay attention on improving physical fitness of the players,” he said.
Assistant coach Rana Mujahid said considering the speedy moves of the Australians, they were expecting to come up with another strategy in the second half but suspension of Tariq spoiled their plans.
“When a team is playing with just ten players against equally good rival, things become difficult and it is hard to put opponents under pressure,” he said.
He said teams missed several sitters in both halves.—APP
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