“Let’s be realistic — we have defeated Australia on their home soil and have won the three-nation event. Our next target is to put in our best efforts for ensuring a better show in the upcoming Champions Trophy and we are really working on it.”-Reuters Photo

ISLAMABAD: Beating Australia in the recent three-nation tournament in Perth has really raised the Pakistan hockey team’s profile in international arena and, to a large extent, has helped remove the tag of ‘underachievers’ that had been attached with the green-shirts over the last few years.

The Perth win has also proved that Pakistan is preparing well for the upcoming mega events — the Champions Trophy and London Olympics 2012 — and will be no pushovers if it came to battling the best.

Pakistan Hockey Federation’s secretary Asif Bajwa, who has been the force behind the rejuvenated Pakistan hockey team and is working hard for the game’s revival in the country, told Dawn on Thursday: “Let’s be realistic — we have defeated Australia on their home soil and have won the three-nation event. Our next target is to put in our best efforts for ensuring a better show in the upcoming Champions Trophy and we are really working on it.”

It was indeed Bajwa’s confidence in the team as well as the faith and effort shown by the Dutch hockey coach Michel Van De Heuvel which helped the Pakistan team to compete with the best outfits recently.

Heuvel, in fact, had told Dawn in an exclusive interview last month that he believed Pakistan team could be placed with any other strong outfit of the world and had made great strides in the last one year under his training.

“Now, I am confident that my squad can give a competitive display anywhere in the world,” Heuvel had said at the time.

Bajwa revealed that Pakistan will be playing a couple of international games prior to the Champions Trophy: “We will be playing two training matches with Germany and Holland before featuring in the Champions Trophy,” he confirmed.

“With Germany, it will be a one match training stint while we are trying to get confirmation from our Dutch counterparts [Netherlands Hockey Federation].”

The 2011 Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy would be the 33rd edition of the Hockey Champions Trophy for men to be played in Auckland, New Zealand, starting from December 3.

Eight hockey playing nations would compete in the nine-day event.

He said that slowly and steadily the green-shirts were proving their mettle against the world’s best outfits and this win “will definitely enhance the players’ confidence and will be a boost for other events like the Champions Trophy.”