Great Britain thrash Pakistan 4-1

E-Paper | March 04, 2026

-Photo by Reuters

KARACHI: Pakistan lost to hosts Great Britain 4-1 on Friday in the men's hockey group A match at the London Olympics.

In a brilliant display at the Riverbank Arena, Ashley Jackson scored two goals for the hosts as James Tindall and Jonty Clarke added one each while capain Sohail Abbas pulled one back for Pakistan.

Great Britain were on top from the beginning as Tindall beat goal keeper Imran Shah to open the scoring in the third minute from a tight angle. The hosts finished the first half 2-0 up after Clarke doubled their lead in the 25th minute.

Great Britain extended their lead further in the second half as Jackson scored twice from penalty corners - in the 59th and 66th minutes of the match. The winning margin could have been much bigger if not for the many missed chances.

The Greenshirts' captain scored one in the dying minutes of the game but it was too late for the 2010 Asian Games' gold medallists to make a difference to the result.

Britain's hockey men drew level on points with world champions Australia with the victory.

The hosts were almost unrecognisable from the team which was held to a disappointing 2-2 draw by South Africa two days ago.

“It was very important for us after a nightmare performance against South Africa, but that was a much better performance, there was a lot more fight about us,” Jackson said.

Pakistan opened their hockey campaign at the Olympics with a 1-1 draw against Spain followed by a 2-0 win over Argentina. They next play South Africa on Sunday, August 5.

Statistics

Great Britain		Pakistan
4/12 (33%)	Total Goals/Shots	1/6 (17%)
2/6	Field Goal Goals/Shots	0/1
2/6	Penalty Corner Goals/Shots	1/5
0/0	Penalty Stroke Goals/Shots	0/0

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Khurram

Aug 03, 2012 05:46pm

back to square one :( , i m disappointed

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Ali

Aug 03, 2012 06:14pm

So whats next? Should a medal be expected or totally lost opportunity

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Shah

Aug 03, 2012 06:27pm

I think, two matches before, were easy matches, from now onwards, work will be an uphill task, higher we go tougher it will get, it will be good if there is even bronze medal, asking for gold will be realistically asking for too much for too little. Look at India team, it was not too bad a team, but, it was in a tough pool, so did not win even a single match, they may win against belgium, but may not be even that. Who knows India and Pakistan may be numer 11 and 12, but, only confusion is who will be number 11.

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@DrImranKhan

Aug 04, 2012 06:30am

practice pray perfection predominance

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Sameen Bawla

Aug 04, 2012 11:33am

Australia beat Spain (2008 Silver Medalist) 5-0. Then Australia drew with Argentina 2-2. Should Spain leave the game of hockey? We are number 8th in 200 countries. Relax

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Sameen Bawla

Aug 04, 2012 11:30am

Relax, we are still number 8th in the world (Out of 200 countries). Winning and losing is part of the game. Forget discussing the old glory days of India and Pakistan. Its not good for any game to be dominated by 1 or 2 teams. Yes, the European dominated FIH changed the rules of Hockey to their benefit but still the best team is Australia which used to follow the same Asian style of Hockey (5-3-2) as India and Pakistan. We need to adapt to changes and encourage resources in other sports apart from Cricket.

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Gerry D'Cunha

Aug 04, 2012 10:19am

God help those who help themself. The day Pakistanis set their mind on game and not on believe, things will work out different.

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Ali Vaqar Awan

Aug 03, 2012 06:56pm

Horrible show put up by Pakistan. Totally played disorganized game with out proper planing. 2 early goals by GB were the factor that let our team down. Our hockey team missed lots of goal scoring chances. Barely made any attempt to score goals. Penelty corner conversion was not upto mark. Great deal of defensive blunders were commited by defenders of Pakistan hockey team. There was lack of coordination between our players. This proved very costly. Next match is against South Africa, this Pakistan needs to win convincingly so atleast our team can play for 5th place as Semi-final is now out of our team's reach.

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Suleman

Aug 03, 2012 06:57pm

The fact in today's match was that Great Britian was just too good for Pakistan. We have to work hard and come back stronger. Fingers crossed for the remaining matches!

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Asif Khan

Aug 03, 2012 07:23pm

Don't be discouraged from defeat it is part of re-organizing and winning in future. Heros only stumble and don't fall. Insha'Allah we can expect better next time.

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M. Khan

Aug 03, 2012 07:29pm

Stop living in the past....

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Khurram

Aug 03, 2012 08:12pm

have to beat Aus & SA and wait for the result of other matches too

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mian Riaz

Aug 03, 2012 08:14pm

I have said before and will say again that the style of hockey is played now a days is so bad that suit western countries. No dribble and no hard hitting, i recall about 35 to 40 years ago Hockey played in the sub- continent was classic and beautiful. Western countries could not play they changed the whole concept of the game. Shame on the them and unfortunately we (India and Pakistan) went along with them.

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Mohammed Arshad

Aug 03, 2012 08:51pm

Pakistan played a well coordinated ball passing game and came close to scoring a number of times.Apart from a few players,majority lacked experience to finish the moves which would start deep in the field.Although Pakistan lost 4-1 but we should support the team and hopefully build up a well oiled machine ready for the next Olympics.Sohail Abbas is well passed his prime.The hockey turfs are very different to the one's Sohail or the senior players are used to.The surface is very fast and for this reason one has to be alert and sharp right from the start.Pakistani team did not even realize this and was a goal down in the first 3 minutes!.The maximum or cut off age for modern hockey play on these new surfaces is 30 years.The reflexes have to be razor sharp.One only has to compare the penalty hits of Jackson and compare them with Sohail's,would appreciate how slow our captain is.Yesterday's hero is not necessary today or tomorrow's hero.Pakistan should look for a specialty penalty taker of much younger age,perhaps around 19 or 20 years old.Sohail should be expected to coach the particular player.

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jamal

Aug 03, 2012 08:59pm

Stop comparing against india. Play your own game

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AliMoeez

Aug 03, 2012 10:00pm

Sohail Abbas nay sirf 1 goal kia....??? ye bhi na kertay woo

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paki_guy

Aug 03, 2012 10:06pm

It's about time Pakistan leave the game of hockey as it's beyond their capability. They have no skills to defend and score.

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kashif pasha

Aug 03, 2012 11:03pm

I reckon its now a bit late for Pakistan to be considered to reach the semin after today's disappointing perormance. This was a crunch matc and eve na tie would have kept Pakistan's hopes alive to be amongs the last four. Now its a must win situation against both the South Africa and the world champs Australia, whick looks less likely. The game of hockey has changed and favours th european nation which are known for their fitness, agility and stamina. We can only pray for Pakistan's victory in the next two matches during this Holy Month and keep our fingers crossed for the remaining two games.

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Zaffar

Aug 03, 2012 11:33pm

Gone are the glorified days of pakistan Hockey. Like everything else is Pakistan it is going down down down.

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Hamid Abbasi

Aug 03, 2012 11:59pm

Don't loose your Heart while loosing your game.Just Work Hard and Harder.God Be With you.Hamid Abbasi

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Yawar

Aug 04, 2012 12:32am

Pakistan is ranked 8 in the world. England is 4. Also England had home team advantage. Our expectations from our team for this game were too high.

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Falcon

Aug 04, 2012 01:38am

Simple rule of hockey - if you don't score, you don't win. Pakistan has the world's best short corner converter (Sohail Abbas), so they should try to get many short corners in a match, Unfortunately, their game is concentrated in mid-field. Pakistan team is just as good, if not better, than any European or Australian team, but those guys come up winning, because they play smart. Lets go Pakistan - a little less mid-field play and a lot more strategy is needed Best of luck.

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Malik

Aug 04, 2012 03:01am

I think all pakis should do dua . that pakistan get 1 medal. corruption and lies should be included in olympics. pakis will be champion

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Faisal

Aug 04, 2012 04:35am

It goes to show that Western hockey is just plain smart, every move is carefully thought out, adaptive with superb execution. They demonstrate great physical fitness and intelligence and launch attached from all angles leaving the witless green-shirts guessing and confused. Even though Pakistan had ball possession 50% of the time they were clueless and lost without any clear strategy or tactic. Education, physical stamina and mental prowess are all lacking in the Pakistani team. Australia should be able to convincingly and thoroughly teach the green shirts their final lesson that they are in a league of their own. Of course excellent job and kudos to the UK. Hockey should be encouraged and played in all of Pakistan's provinces especially NWFP (Pakhtonkhwa) and Balochistan and greater representation from Karachi as this will broaden and strengthen the team.

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Sam

Aug 04, 2012 05:12am

My country India could not get into the finals, I hoped Pakistan played well and could qualify for the finals, but that didn't happen, I couldn't understand why our teams are not playing well against those teams, who we were defeating consistently not 20 years back.

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Mohsin

Aug 04, 2012 05:25am

If u say that indian pool is tough than u dont have any knowledge about hockey......accept germany and netherland...whioch team is tough??belgium korea or newzealand???

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shahab chaklader

Aug 04, 2012 05:41am

it is time for sub-continent team to find out new strategy. 4-3-3 set up is not working against physically superior team.Spain played with a formation in football, they adopted 4-6 set up. no forward, forwards are hiden with six midfielders.like football ,hockey also a game of 11 players too.Artificial turf was introdused in 1976 montreal olympic, long days passed now sub continent hockey should acheive what the supporters desired. all the sub continent player has a tendency to hang the ball, its also a major reason of the loss. against Australia and South Africa, Pakistan must win otherwise they returned with zero development.

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Aamir Nawaid

Aug 04, 2012 06:16am

Let's plan for next Olympics. This Olympics was never our target. This was just a team preparation exercise for next Olympics. Isn't it the same thing we keep hearing from our hockey management? Let us stop wasting our limited resources on hockey and start spending in Cricket and Squash, where we have better chances of winning.

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G.a

Aug 04, 2012 08:30am

This team wins every day except Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

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Ray

Aug 04, 2012 03:01pm

I hope we work hard and have a competent management to nurture talent and groom youngsters. Those calling for Sohail Abbasto retire, should recognize that he is Pakistans best hope to score these days.

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Keemla

Aug 06, 2012 06:59am

That said, its about time Pakistan leave all sports, since the heydays of dominating cricket, hockey and squash by one particular player has long gone. Pakistan has enough troubles on its plate to make any focused effort to win at sports.

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