June 16, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-us-Sani 11, 1429

DUBLIN, June 15: Pakistan played a 2-2 draw against Canada in their last league match of the Four-nation hockey tournament here on Saturday and qualified for the final.

The green shirts collected four points from three games, beating Ireland 4-2 and drawing 3-3 against Great Britain before playing Canada.

The other team which has reached the final is Canada.

The first session remained goalless in which the game was mainly restricted to the midfield and failed to produce any thrill.

Pakistan gained some relief before a full house holiday crowd by taking the lead in the 39th minute when reliable Rehan scored with a slightly weaker shot and rival goalkeeper Michael Mahood could not anticipate speed of the ball before Zubair beat the entire rushing forward line of Canada with superb sprint down the line.

After taking the lead, Pakistan showed ample defence vulnerability that the Canadians exploited to the hilt.

Hence from such a flaw the opponents were in front and an acute angle shot by rival forward Mark Peterson slithered past goalkeeper Nasir Ahmed in the 51st minute.

The Canadian joy lived short as Rehan once again shown with an astute display of dribbling and scheming to double the lead in an indirect conversion drill off the third short corner in the 54th minute.

In the same minute, Pakistan forward Waqas Akbar went out of the field suffering a yellow-card punishment.

Reducing to ten members was a blessing in disguise for Canada who went on offensive as Pakistan indulged in erratic hockey which helped the North Americans to level the score 2-2 through a field goal by Robert Short who jolted Pakistan defence with his stick work and planning.

Pakistan captain Zeeshan Ashraf said on Sunday he was fully satisfied with their performance.

He said his side was a bit relaxed against Canada and he had advised his players to overcome the factor.

“I think the players know the need of the hour and my only advice to them is to play positive hockey without feeling the pressure of the final,” he said.

The skipper added: “The team management tried out different combinations on the tour and these experiments would definitely help in finalising our squad for the Olympics.”

Zeeshan brushed aside the comments that Canada would be an easy opponent in the final.

“Don’t forget that Canada have qualified for the Olympics and they are capable of upsetting any opponent,” the skipper remarked.—Agencies