ISLAMABAD, March 11 Star drag-flicker Sohail Abbas feels that Pakistan needs a foreign coach to revive their past glory by blending the Asian style with the European structure.

“We in Asia just go out and play on the pitch. But in Europe you learn how much planning goes into the game. We need to play in the Asian style but in the European structure,” he said.

He said hockey had changed a lot in recent times and the teams could not afford weakness in any area.

“A team needs to be good at everything -- defending, attacking, distributing and penalty-corner conversion. The players now have multiple roles. I say the forwards are the first line of defence. We are known for our skills. But it is not just the skills but the structure, too, that is also important,” Sohail said.

“We were playing well coming into this tournament. We approached the World Cup with a lot of confidence but things haven't fallen into place for us here,” said the left-back.

The only man in world hockey with over 300 international goals to his name, Abbas is a true legend of the game.

But he has been off-colour during the quadrennial spectacle and scored only once in the tournament.

He, however, attributes this to luck, just as he does his success. “Whatever I have achieved in this game is due to the grace of God,” he said.

“I have scored many goals where I aimed in one place and the ball went into the goal, but in another direction. That wasn't my doing. There was a higher power at work.

“In the same way, I have missed a few goals this time that should have gone in. That is because God had not willed the ball to go in.” —APP