LAHORE, Sept 10: Pakistan skipper Mohammad Nadeem on Friday quit from international hockey. Nadeem said he had already announced early this year that Olympics would be his last international event.

"My decision would be the same even if Pakistan had won gold. My family also advised that it was time to quit," Nadeem, 28, said while addressing a press conference. "I consider the time right to retire and I am doing it with grace and had no pressures to take this decision."

Nadeem, who won 285 caps, blamed Pakistan's lack of consistency at the Olympics the reason for the team not reaching the semifinals. "We did not play to our potential. We were annihilated by Spain 4-0 one day and thrashed Great Britain by eight goals the other day which is not ideal at international level," he said.

He, however, insisted that the future of the national game was bright and impressed upon the authorities to stick with Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans. Nadeem was installed as skipper of the team in 2002 and donned the green shirt in two Olympics, two World Cups and seven Champions Trophy tournaments in his decade-old career starting with Pakistan's tour of Europe in 1994.

The former forward was penalized for playing in the German league without permission from the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) last year but was restored as captain after he tendered an apology.

Another player likely to call it a day in coming days is goalkeeper Ahmed Alam. However, Nadeem said he could reconsider his decision if the PHF needed his services for the Champions Trophy scheduled to be held in Lahore in December.

On his possible successor he believed that Mohammad Wasim could be the best choice and young Tariq Aziz as best suited as striker. Regarding his future plans, Nadeem disclosed that he had signed a two-year contract with a German club as a player and would be leaving on Sept 15 and denied that the contract was one of the reasons of his retirement.

"I got a good offer from the club which is giving me Rs3 million a year and I accepted it," he added. Nadeem said the PHF should increase the daily allowance of the players which was $50 for the last one decade. It should be $100.

He suggested that Mohammad Saqlain, who was dropped from Athens Olympics on disciplinary grounds, should now be included in the team. The former skipper was also not in favour of the forthcoming series against India and preferred to take on Germany or Holland so far as Champions Trophy preparations were concerned.

"The present Indian team is weak and it will not provide Pakistan the ideal preparation for the Champions Trophy." He said Sydney Olympics was his best tournament and the match against Holland was the best match of his life.