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| July 24, 2006 | Monday | Jumadi-ul-Sani 27, 1427 |
Witthaus late strike helps Germans draw: Two goals by Sohail in vain
TERRASSA, July 23: A late goal let Germany off the hook to draw 3-3 with Pakistan in the Champions Trophy hocket tournament on Sunday after the combative Asians surged back from a 2-0 deficit.
The poised German side appeared to be in the driving seat thanks to two early goals by Christopher Zeller until Sohail Abbas converted a penalty corner to keep Pakistan in the hunt before half time.
While the Europeans wilted in the sweltering heat in the second half, their opponents clicked into a higher gear and Sohail sent home another penalty corner inside three minutes of the restart to equalise.
Pakistan were buoyed by Shakeel Abbasi hammering through a field goal to take the lead 3-2 but their joy evaporated in the heat just two minutes short of the final whistle.
Matthias Witthaus split the defence and found the net with a powerful backstick drive to give Germany their second point following Saturday's 1-1 draw against Spain.
Pakistan had to console themselves with their first point after going down 3-2 in a tight contest with reigning champions Australia on Saturday.
Pakistan coach Asif Bajwa lamented that his team dropped their guard late in the game after scenting victory.
“There were defensive lapses when Germany applied pressure in the last 10 minutes and the players did not listen to me when I was shouting at them,” he said.
“They seemed to be carried away with the possibility of winning against Germany.”
Like the Kookaburras on Saturday, German coach Bernhard Peters paid tribute to the Pakistanis' verve and determination.
“My players were surprised by the intensity of Pakistan in the second half and we did not play our structure because we lost our ball control when in possession,” he said.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Germany were held 1-1 by the defending champions Spain.
Weissenborn put the Germans ahead in the fourth minute before S. Freixa scored the equaliser for Spaniards in the 65th minute.
In another match on the same day, three penalty corner conversions by Taeke Taekema helped the Netherlands defeat Argentina 4-2.
The Dutch got off to a confident start when Taekema struck his first in the 25th before Ibarra levelled the score from Argentina seven minutes into second half.
The Netherlands once again went ahead with a Teun de Nooijer goal in the 55th minute followed by another Taekema strike two minutes later.
Lucas Cammareri scored the second for Argentina in the 59th minute, while Taekema completed the tally with a 59th-minute effort.
Monday will be rest day. Three more matches will be played on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s fixtures (timings Pakistan Standard Time): The Netherlands v Pakistan at 7.00pm; Spain v Australia at 9.00pm; Germany v Argentina at 11.00pm.—AFP
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