Netherlands shock Pakistan

Published March 4, 2004

KARACHI, March 3: The Netherlands juniors shrugged off hot and sultry weather to stun Pakistan juniors 2-1 in the first hockey clash thanks to a Wouter Jolie winner on Wednesday.

The Dutch, who were being expected to be bothered by Karachi weather were better organized outfit against a disjointed Pakistan throughout the encounter at Hockey Club of Pakistan.

Not only the tour party was better in attack, it had an impeccable defence too, especially in the second half when Pakistanis penetrated the Dutch half quite a few times but failed to find the net.

Pakistani youngsters seemed to be lacking in basics - hitting, stopping, passes and possession - while the Netherlands had an upper hand, having better cohesion between the forwards and the half-line.

After making several substitutions during the opening 10 minutes, the Dutch had their first chance in the 12th minute. Steven Faaij took too long to provide Balder Bomans the pass.

While Pakistan forward-line did not seem to be working as it should have been, they opted to score through penalty corners. After failing in converting a 17th-minute short corner, the home side netted the next minute when Mohammad Arif broke the ice with an indirect try.

Pakistan's Kashif Yaqoob came close to scoring in the 26th minute but an excellent clearance by captain Mike Husken prevented the hosts from doubling the lead.

The Dutchmen proved they are equally good at converting the penalty corners when Teun Rohof found the cage off a rebound in the 29th minute to equalise. The visitors once again tried through penalty corner in the dying moments of the first session, but this time Pakistan goalkeeper Adeel Anwar padded away the effort to safety.

Pakistan came under immense pressure after the lemons, the Dutch taking the lead through Jolie who scored off a rebound during the third penalty corner in the 47th minute.

Tariq Aziz, the ace forward who was rested in the first half, came off the bench after resumption, only to miss several chances despite being substituted several times.

The Dutch felt pressure for the first time when Pakistan launched a series of offensives in the last 10 minutes of the game but failed to find the equaliser.

Mohammad Arif worked hard for possession down the right but his wild cross did not prove fruitful as it went across the face of the Dutch goal in the 51st minute.

Pakistan missed a golden chance when Waqas Sharif sent a weak pass through Dutch defenders in the 59th minute. Mukhtar Ahmad missed the target following a blistering hit from Waqas in the 66th minute.

Mukhtar once again fed Arif whose cross was not connected by any of the Pakistani forward two minutes from time. Pakistan could have levelled the scores but failed in converting the third short corner in the 69th minute, while fourth was wasted as Imran Warsi's push went high above the bar seconds before final whistle.

Rohof was shown yellow card by umpire Mohsin Ali for protesting over awarding fourth short corner. The teams meet again on Thursday at 3.00pm at the same venue.

Pakistan Juniors: Adeel Anwar, Tariq Yameen, Imran Warsi, Amir Shahzad, Imran Khan, Nadeem Iqbal, Waqas Sharif, Mukhtar Ahmad, Mohammad Arif, Kashif Yaqoob, Naeem Akbar.

The Netherlands Juniors: Balder Bomans, Tammo Gunst, Roderick Huber, Mike Husken, Wouter Jolie, Eby Kessing, Teun Rohof, Klass Staatsen, Jaap Stock Mann, Wouter Straten, Huib Zwerer.

Pakistan 1 .......The Netherlands 2

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