Now that the Trophy is in the country, maybe Pakistan will be able to win
Later in the day the final of the Champions Trophy will be played in Lahore’s National Hockey Stadium. And as we write, Pakistan had a good chance of making it to the winner’s podium. However, even before the tournament had begun, Pakistan’s chances of bringing home the gold were shrouded in uncertainty.
It was a sheer co-incidence that Pakistan recaptured the Champions Trophy after a lapse of 14 years when the then Dutch coach Hans Jorritsma moulded the green shirts into a winning combination. Now Pakistan is under a much better and world-renowned Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans, working hard to guide the green-shirts back to their winning ways. However, he does not have what Jorritsma had ten years back; a better brand of quality players that included skipper Shahbaz Ahmed, one of the most feared attackers of his time, Tahir Zaman, Waseem Feroz, Kamran Ashraf, Asif Bajwa, Rahim khan, goalkeeper Mansoor, Rana Mujahid, Mohammad Usman and Khawaja Junaid. Under Jorritsma’s coaching Pakistan also regained the 1994 Sydney World Cup. It was our fourth and it had come 12 years after we had won the Bombay World Cup in 1982 (now Mumbai).
However, credit goes to Oltmans for having worked hard in making the present squad a winning team. This is especially difficult since he only has players who can best be described as mediocre with no world-fame schemer in its fold. This was evident when Pakistan gave a highly disappointing performance by finishing fifth in the Athens Olympic Game this August. The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and its hired coach Oltmans were disappointed by the team’s performance. But more than them, it were the Pakistanis whose expectations of seeing the hockey gold come home were dashed yet again.
The Dutch coach’s one year contract will be over after the Champions Trophy and whether his squad will lift the 26th Champions Trophy, weakened by the debatable pullout of Athens gold medalists, Australia, will be evident later in the day.
Australia pulled out on security reasons although the PHF gave assurance of VIP security arrangements for its team. Germany on the other hand, record holders with eight wins in the 26-year history of the Champions Trophy, has fielded almost a new team that is being prepared for the 2006 World Cup as well as for the upcoming European Championship. Germany has rested most of its senior and experienced players barring a few who are with the team. So the German chances of winning the trophy looked bleak from the very beginning.
Other competing teams are defending champions Holland, Spain, New Zealand and India who has replaced Australia in the six-nation trophy. Holders Holland, the Athens Olympic runners-up, stand a better chance of retaining the Champions Trophy to equal Germany record of eight victories.
Pakistan had beaten both New Zealand and India in classification matches of the Athens Olympic, while it lost to Germany (1-2) and to Spain (0-4) in the pool matches. Spain has come here after playing a hockey series against India, in India, as part of its preparations for the Lahore battles. Its team’s morale was already up after its victory over Pakistan in Athens and had set its eyes for wining the trophy for the first time. Spain’s best performance ever is a bronze. However, India has never been on the victory stand, not even for a bronze medal.
Pakistan went into the series on the back of a home and away series win against its arch-rivals in September-October. It was during this series that the ace penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas set a world record for the most goals scored by an individual in hockey. But it’s a different story in the Champions Trophy.
Pakistan has only been able to secure the title thrice before. Other than this, they have won the silver medal six times, the bronze five times, seven times they have been placed fourth and once they have been placed fifth, sixth and seventh. Last year, Pakistan won the bronze in Holland. However, in the face of a weak opposition, Pakistan’s chances of at least making it to the finals seemed good. The real hurdle is Holland and Pakistan fell at it during the league game. Holland made its mark by winning 4-1.
Led by Waseem Ahmed the team has at times shown consistency in its performance and should not have lost a match before the title battle. Forwards should score goals as heavy reliance on world record holder Sohail Abbas proved to be counter productive.
The nation is entertaining great hope that Pakistan will win back the trophy which will give a considerable boost to the game in the country.
Now that the Trophy is in the country, maybe Pakistan will be able to win 
