ISLAMABAD: While emphasising that not the FIH World Cup, starting in less than ten days’ time, but the Asian Games was their main target, Pakistan team’s coaching staff led by Bob Johan Veldhof on Wednesday said that building a strong squad for major event like the World Cup required time and proper planning and could not be achieved rapidly.

Pakistan, the former four-time World Cup winners, are placed in pool ‘D’ alongside England, India and Wales for the 16-nation showpiece being co-hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands from Aug 15 to 30. The Green-shirts, led by Abu Bakr Mahmood, leave for the Netherlands on Aug 9.

After playing the tournament opener against England on Aug 15 at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen, Pakistan meet Wales on Aug 17 at the same venue before facing arch-rivals India on Aug 19.

At the World Cup, Veldhof, who was hired by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) last month along with other members of the national team’s coaching staff, will be backed by assistant coaches Christopher Bowen and Adnan Zakir.

Speaking to Dawn, Veldhof, alongside Bowen and Adnan, said that the team could not prepare fully for the World Cup in such a short time.

“Frankly speaking, the World Cup is not our [main] target; in one month’s training we cannot do wonders in the global event. [Rather] our main focus will be on this year’s Asian Games [to be hosted by Japan in September-October],” Veldhof said and added that things were moving in the right direction for Pakistan hockey.

“Pakistan faced 26 consecutive defeats in international contests. However, we won our last three matches against South Korea which means there is some improvement,” the Dutchman said and added that his coaching team had a two-year plan. “If it is implemented, Pakistan can be amongst the world’s top eight outfits.”

The head coach further said that the Pakistan Hockey Federation had been taking important steps to bring improvement, which he termed a positive development for the future of country’s hockey.

“A mega school hockey programme is going to be implemented in future. In this regard, the PHF will provide equipment to thousands of schools across Pakistan. Steps like this are needed to lift hockey,” Veldhof said and added that the Pakistan players were being trained on modern lines.

Speaking on the occasion, assistant coach Bowen said that club hockey and school hockey were crucial to enhance the pool of players.

“We are doing our best and hope to achieve good results…we are building a [solid] team,” he insisted.

In his comments, Adnan, who has been settled in Germany for many years, said that Pakistan had heaps of talent, which needed to be trained on modern lines.

“Talent can win you games, but not [the] championship,” former Pakistan player Adnan insisted and added that a strong team was required for winning an event. “We are working to build a good team,” he said.

While lauding the extremely rich history of Pakistan hockey, the coaches stated that now there was a need to look forward.

“Had Pakistan modernised the game on time, it would not have been left behind other teams,” the coaches underlined.

“Unfortunately, after the 1990s Pakistan no longer produced heroes as people still discussed [the country’s] former players.”

‘POTENTIAL HEROES’

Interestingly, Bowen claimed that there were at least a couple of players in Pakistan’s World Cup squad, announced by the PHF on Wednesday, who “can surprise opponent teams and Pakistan fans as well”.

“We don’t want to disclose their names at this stage. But surely we have two best players, who have the potential to become heroes of Pakistan hockey in future,” Bowen said.

The time had come to think beyond hockey of the old school, the Pakistan coaches emphasised. “We are working on modern lines with focus on the players’ skills, tactics and fitness.

“In the third match [of the ongoing home series] against South Korea, we were trailing 1-2 but in the end we won 4-3. [This shows that] hockey is not just about stick and ball; rather there are many other elements,” they said.

IMPROVING DEFENCE ‘WORK IN PROGRESS’

Responding to a query about the poor defence of the national team which conceded a whopping 79 goals in 16 matches of the 2025-26 FIH Pro League, Veldhof said fixing the problem would take time.

“We are aware of this [frail defence] issue. Therefore, our primary focus is on improving this obvious weakness. As I said earlier, things can’t be properly fixed in a short period of time. This is a time-consuming process in which we are gradually making progress,” the head coach said.

All the three coaches were of the opinion that if Pakistan wanted to make noteworthy progress it would have to ensure consistency in the policies.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2026