KARACHI: Pakistan’s legendary center-forward Hasan Sardar has called on the national team to drastically improve their game before entertaining any thoughts of beating top European teams at next year’s London Olympics.

“Pakistan has shown improvement but we needed to make big strides if we are to compete against the European teams,” Sardar told APP in an interview on Thursday.

“Pakistan’s 4-0 defeat against the Netherlands was very disappointing but 1-2 loss against Germany suggests that they put up a fighting show in the Rabo 4-nation event,” one of the spearheads for Pakistan’s gold-medal-winning side at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, said.

“Team is showing improvement. But keeping an eye on next year's Olympics, a lot of work is still to be done,” he stressed.

He said winning the Asian Games gold in China last year after two decades was a big boost for the team.

“There is a huge difference between Asian Games and Olympics. Pakistan hockey team and its management must raise their standard for a better show in London.”

He called upon the selectors and Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to finalize the pool of 20-25 players now and condition them and termed the team’s tour of Europe the perfect arena to gauge the worth of the potential squad members.

Sardar said he had nothing against the seniors in the team but called on the veterans to increase their fitness levels.

“There should be no compromise on fitness.”