KUALA LUMPUR: Pakistan took the lead against Spain and held on to their advantage until half-time but eventually fell apart to lose their quarter-final 4-2 and crash out of the FIH Junior World Cup on Tuesday.

Abdul Hanan Shahid had opened the scoring in the 12th but Spain scored three times in the third quarter, including twice in the space of a minute, and although Pakistan pulled a goal back soon after through Sufyan Khan, Pol Cabre Verdiell’s second drag-flick conversion of the game ended their hopes.

“We did very well today, we overcame the difficulties after Pakistan scored,” Spain captain Andreas Rafi said. “We stayed calm and that was the key.”

Spain advance to a semi-final against France, who beat Australia 3-2. Germany ousted defending champions Argentina 2-1 and will face India, 4-3 winners over the Netherlands, in the other last-four clash.

Pakistan’s Dutch head coach Roelant Oltmans rued his side conceded too many penalty corners.

“Spain had better ball possession, while we conceded too many penalty corners,” Oltmans told the post-match press conference. “We also lost the services of goalkeeper Ali Raza, who is recovering from a hamstring injury. Our second keeper Abdul Rafay isn’t as experienced as him.”

Rafay, however, made a superb save from a penalty corner early on before Hannan fired in a field goal to give Pakistan the lead at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

In a tightly-contested first half, Rafay continued to keep to Spain at bay but was finally beaten in the 37th when Cabre Verdiell scored from a penalty corner with Aleix Bozal adding another goal from a drag-flick soon after.

Jan Capellades denied Pakistan an equaliser with a good bit of positional keeping, and Spain immediately broke out for Pablo Espino to finish a good team goal.

Sufyan scored from a drag flick to reduce the deficit for Pakistan only for Cabre Verdiell to score two minutes later.

There were good scoring opportunities at both ends in the final quarter but neither defence could be breached.

“We came back strongly in the third quarter to score three goals in four minutes,” Spain coach Oriol Ouig Torras told reporters. “It was the turning point of the match, and I am very happy with the win against Pakistan, who gave us a good fight.”

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2023