November 02, 2006	Thursday	Shawwal 9, 1427

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KARACHI, Nov 1: Pakistan hockey manager-cum-coach, Shahnaz Shaikh on Wednesday said the team would not be missing the five senior players including Sohail Abbas and Mohammad Saqlain in the forthcoming Asian Games, adding that their careers were practically over.

“There will be no effect on the team whatsoever due to the absence of those who chose to play in leagues instead of attending to national duty,” said Shahnaz while talking to Dawn after the first training session for the Games organised here at Hockey Club of Pakistan.

“What purpose did they serve when they were in the team at the World Cup in Germany? All five of them were in the team and yet we finished sixth.”

Shahnaz, who is serving PIA in Jeddah, reached Karachi an hour before the start of the training session in the morning.

The five senior players – Mohammad Saqlain, Sohail Abbas, Waseem Ahmad, Ghazanfar Ali and Dilawar Hussain - were invited by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) for the Asian Games training camp last month.

They were, in fact, given an option to report at the first phase of the camp - from Oct 10 to 20 - in Islamabad for even a single day to be considered for the selection. But none of them reported and preferred to play in the foreign leagues rather than donning national colours.

While Manzoorul Hassan, the makeshift camp commandant during the first phase of the camp, is on record for saying that the careers of the five senior players are over, PHF secretary Akhtarul Islam has reportedly said they would be considered for events after the Asian Games.

Shahnaz, however, didn’t mince any words in saying that careers of all five seniors were over and the PHF should not consider them even if they wished to play for Pakistan again.

“When they went off to play in the leagues on lucrative terms, they had already ended their careers. After the Asian Games, we have 2008 Beijing Olympics as our main target. Can they play in 2008 for the country? Absolutely not. They are gone forever,” said the coach.

Shahnaz, a former hockey great of the 1970s, was however far from convincing when asked if he had considered Sohail and Waseem had they reported for the camp.

“Yes, I would have considered them had they reported in the first phase of the camp because they might not have been good at the international level but could have been utilised at the Asian level.”

On the other hand, Shahnaz conceded that he should not have taken Saqlain, Sohail and Waseem into the fold for the World Cup in Monchengladbach if he had his way.

Shahnaz has had some bitter experiences with the trio in the past. The temperamental Saqlain has always been at the loggerheads with the former Olympian during his past tenure and the midfielder even revolted against Shahnaz after the World Cup, saying he lacked modern coaching skills.

Even Sohail and Waseem had skipped a tour Down Under to play league hockey a few years ago which had rubbed Shahnaz the wrong way then.

“I agree that in principle I should not have considered Saqlain, Sohail and Waseem for the World Cup. But I had no choice as I took over just ten day before the event,” Shahnaz explained.

“I accepted the job for the love of my country. There were lots of people in contention then but no one who could really work. Besides, I am not a professional coach. Only a fulltime coach can be professional coach,” he said when asked why he took the charge on such a short notice at the time.

Shahnaz said the apart from the likes of Saqlain and Sohail, strikers Shabbir Hussain, Akhtar Ali and Waqas Akbar, also disappointed him at the World Cup. Shabbir has, apparently, cited domestic reasons for his unavailability for the Asian Games now.

“I have written in my World Cup report that Shabbir, Akhtar and Waqas played reckless hockey. They gave a poor performance.”

Focussing on the forthcoming Doha Games, Shahnaz said he expected Pakistan to set-up a final against South Korea as well as meeting archrivals India in the last four stage.

“For penalty corner strikes, we have Imran Warsi, Mohammad Imran, and Ehsanullah. Japan will be the toughest rival in our group, while overall Korea are the toughest in the event. I see a victory for Pakistan but the players will have to work really hard for that.”

Shahnaz is planning to hold trials within a week so he can concentrate on a group of 16 instead of 38 probables initially announced.

The Asian Games are scheduled to be held in Doha, Qatar from Dec 1 to 15.