As things stand at the time of writing, Pakistan, after beating South Korea, seems to have a good chance of reaching the semi-finals.
Still, Pakistan had lost to the Germans and then recovered to thrash Egypt 7-0. But now the team seems to be clicking. Our campaign for the Olympic gold got off to the worst possible start when we lost to Germany, 2-1. We couldn’t recover from the two goal deficit. Still the defeat was not nearly as bad as the 6-0 battering Pakistan received at the hands of the same German team during a preparatory tour of Europe a few months ago.
Defeat in the opening tie notwithstanding, the morale in the dressing room remains high. Players look determined and no longer seem to lack pace as compared to their European counterparts. Pakistan’s star player and penalty-corner specialist, Sohail Abbas, says the time is ripe for Pakistan to regain its lost pride in hockey. The last time Pakistan won any medal in Olympics was 12 years ago in Barcelona.
Our last gold medal came in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Before that it had won the gold in 1960 and 68. Like the national cricket team, Pakistani hockey players are notorious for being unpredictable on the field.
Germany’s powerful, defensive play managed to keep Pakistan’s flair-filled attacks from turning into goals but the score could have been reversed if Pakistan’s famed flicker Sohail Abbas had been on form. Pakistan won two penalty corners but Abbas rocketed the first over the bar and shot the second, wide.
But four goals from him eased all fears of Sohail not performing and helped Pakistan to a resounding 7-0 victory over Egypt. Sohail’s return to golden form, as Pakistan pulverized Egypt managed to inject a new life into their Olympic campaign with a mammoth 7-0 victory. He converted three short corners and a stroke to give the green shirts three points.
Pakistan beat Egypt 7-0 in front of hundreds of fans who danced for joy as Sohail eased into a groove and added four goals to his record-chasing tally. Kashif Jawwad put Pakistan on the right path in the third minute.
He was well-supported by Pakistan’s forward-line which was a lot more purposeful against the African champions as compared to their rather erratic showing in the game against the Germans. The Pakistanis were on course for a huge victory once they had accumulated a 3-0 advantage as early as in the 15th minute of the match that was played at a very fast pace. Giving up their newly-adopted and often-criticised defensive style of play and opting for their natural attacking game, Pakistan completely mesmerized the hapless Egyptians.
Pakistan, beaten by Germany 2-1 in the opening match, looked composed against the weaker rivals. Pakistan took control right from the start, dominating with field attacks and converting short corners to completely keep their rivals under pressure. African champions, Egypt tried to maintain a speedy pace in the game but Pakistan’s forwards thwarted their plans. Kashif Jawwad scored in third and the 12th minutes, first seizing a deflection for the first goal and then was set up by Rehan Butt for the second.
Skipper Mohammad Nadeem made it 3-0 after finding the goal from the middle of the circle and then Sohail went into action. The world’s most feared penalty corner shooter seemed fully focussed by converting the first and third short corners in 29th and 34th minutes. Sohail converted fourth penalty corner to complete his hat trick (first in Athens Olympics) in the fourth minute of the second session. Abbas took his tally to 254 goals from 206 matches. Egypt gained four short corners in first half. But goalkeeper Salman Akbar, who played in place of Ahmad Alam, brought off fine saves off the first two while the remaining tries were off-target. Sohail completed his tally of goals by scoring in the 57th minute, converting a penalty stroke. Having taken an unassailable lead, the Pakistanis relaxed but still were close to scoring midway through the second half but poor finishing and lifeless shooting deprived them.
Both Kashif and Rehan missed open chances. It is alarming for Pakistan defence which gave away four short corners against a weaker side like Egypt, but that will be very dangerous for Pakistan if they give away so many short corners in the coming matches.
Pakistan Television has always played a great role to promote sports, especially hockey and cricket in Pakistan. But a mega event like Olympics, PTV has only been broadcasting matches on Channel 3 and not on PTV One. This is a step-motherly treatment of national sport. However, in the near past PTV had televised the Football World Cup, the Euro Cup and Wimbledon on PTV One on a regular basis. It is also a matter of great concern that this time PTV did not make any arrangements for delivering Urdu commentary for their viewers.
As things stand at the time of writing, Pakistan, after beating South Korea, seems to have a good chance of reaching the semi-finals.
