I still remember the inaugural Hockey World Cup, which was supposed to be played in Lahore but was moved to Barcelona, Spain, due to the political concerns of the Indian hockey team.

We were playing against Japan in our second Pool-B match when, as the left-wing, I was hit by a hockey stick in the head by accident. I was bleeding. Back then, there was no doctor on standby to provide first aid to the players so I kept on playing. But one of Pakistan’s supporters handed me his crisp white handkerchief, which I tied on my head like you do a bandana. We won the match 1-0 and seeing the gentleman again I thanked him before returning his handkerchief to him.

Later, during the same tournament, the points position was such that Japan had to beat Holland by one goal for us to proceed into the semi-final. We would have been out if they managed a draw. Only a win could have helped. That’s when in order to motivate the Japanese team, we told them that if they won the match, we would present them with Pakistan jerseys. And a miracle happened when they actually beat Holland 1-0. We proceeded to the semi-finals where we edged out India 2-1 followed by the final where we lifted the inaugural Hockey World Cup by beating Spain 1-0.

Then, after not being as lucky in 1975, we were again the winners of the 1978 Hockey World Cup in which I played as a centre-forward. It was only at the reception for our team in Sialkot in 1978 that I ran into the same gentleman who had given me his handkerchief during the match back in 1971. This time I had the time to be introduced to him properly. He was business tycoon Khawar Anwar Khawaja, who also happened to be an ardent hockey fan.

Mr Khawaja on our second meeting presented me with the same handkerchief he had given me seven years ago. But this time the blood-stained piece of cloth was in a big, beautiful frame. I think I am going to present it to a museum one day.

Qamar Zia

(former goalkeeper)

I remember our flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina for the 1978 Hockey World Cup. It was 48 hours long with several stopovers, of course. We were so tired on reaching our destination. But at the hotel there were already messages for us. People back home wanted to know if we had arrived safely. They said they were praying for us. It was so sweet; it made us feel as if our entire nation was with us in that alien land. It gave us a lot of encouragement and ego boost. The phone calls and messages from home continued throughout our stay.

Knowing today’s hockey players, such gestures would only make them feel pressured. And they just can’t handle pressure. That is the difference between the players of today and yesteryear!

‘Flying Horse’ Samiullah

(former outside-left)

Ihave been lucky enough to feature several Hockey World Cups including the 1978 Cup and the 1982 Cup, which we won.

When we played in Argentina in the 1978 Cup, the people in that country had not even heard of Pakistan. They thought we were some part of India playing independently in the tournament. It was only after our first match in which we beat Ireland 9-0 that they really enjoyed the game and wanted to know more about Pakistan.

Around two months after the Hockey World Cup, Argentina also hosted the FIFA World Cup. César Luis Menotti, coach of the Argentinian soccer team, said during an interview that he wanted his team to play on the pattern of the Pakistan field hockey team. And that is how they won the 1982 FIFA World Cup.

After 1975, all the international field hockey events were played on astroturf but the 1978 and 1982 World Cups are also significant because they were played on natural grass. Apart from Pakistan, Germany, Holland, Australia and India were the big teams in 1982. And we beat them all.

I remember during our final match against Germany, young Hanif Khan scored a goal, which was disallowed by the umpire. Our captain Akhtar Rasool rushed to the umpire to object. The Germans gathered around them, too. That’s when I ran towards Akhtar to whisper to him to let it go as I was sure we would score again. And he agreed before backing off. We were that confident. And we beat Germany 3-1.

Returning home, we came via Jeddah as the team wanted to perform Umrah, and Air Marshal Nur Khan sent over a PIA plane just for the team. We returned to Karachi to be greeted at the airport by swarms of people. From the airport we reached the Mazar-i-Quaid in a procession. And from there we came to the jampacked Hockey Club of Pakistan where we played a festival match to entertain the cheering crowds. Those were the days …

Rashid Ul Hasan

(former right half-back)

The 1982 Hockey World Cup in Mumbai (then Bombay), India, saw the Green Shirts responsible for tennis scores. We beat Argentina 7-1, New Zealand 12-2 and so on. But even playing against such mediocre sides now, our present hockey team would be at the receiving end, most probably, getting the ones and twos while conceding a dozen or so goals.

So confident were we back in those days that after warming up during practice, we would play cricket rather than worry about hockey because we were experts in that game anyway. The Indians couldn’t believe this when they saw it.

In Mumbai, we were offered Nagpur oranges. These are green in colour so I thought they were raw and warned my teammates against having them as I thought that our hosts wanted us to all get sore throats after eating them. But then we realised that they were meant to be green and the flavour was really sweet.

Bollywood actors would come to watch all of the matches. Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini and Dharmendra invited us over for dinners and lunches. Dilip Kumar, too, organised a lavish dinner for the Pakistan team after we won the final. Hockey enjoyed the following that cricket does now.

The World Cup matches were played in Wankhede Stadium, which is really a cricket ground. The Indian team had already ended up fifth in the competition while we were playing against Germany in the final. There was so much hooting throughout our matches from the Indian spectators, who also burnt the stadium chairs, etc., after we beat Germany 3-1 to take the cup. We had to wait inside the stadium until the crowd left and the security people cleared the way.

— As narrated to S.H.