‘Losing to France an eye-opener for PHF’

KARACHI: Former Olympian Shahnaz Sheikh on Tuesday said green-shirts’ thrashing at the hands of minnows France in the ongoing four-nation event in Dublin, Ireland is an eye-opener for the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), emphasising they must not take the results lightly.

The Pakistan squad is on an extensive tour of Europe in order to prepare a strong team for this year’s Champions Trophy and the all-important 2012 Olympics in London.

In Dublin, Pakistan lost their first match of the tournament to France, who recorded a convincing 4-2 win over the former world champions.

“Perhaps the defeat may not be that ugly, which the result suggests. It may be only the weather factor and after an extensive training camp in sizzling Islamabad, the team might have failed to deliver in chilling cold of Dublin. However, if a team is preparing for an impressive show for the Champions Trophy and Olympics then such results are enough to raise many eye-brows,” Shahnaz, Pakistan’s former team manager, stated.

The reason for the defeat should be evaluated and they [PHF] should know the reason for the defeat. What it suggests to me is that Pakistan team might be complacent against lowly-ranked France. However, the age factor of the team might also have done the damage. I think France played a fast game while our ageing players may have failed to tackle the quick French,” he reckoned.

“What I have observed in Pakistan for some tournaments is that they have failed to perform well against European teams and they are good enough to give tough time to Asian teams only.

“They defeated Asian teams and New Zealand in the Azlan Shah Cup while collapsed against England and Australia. In the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, obviously there were only Asian teams. So, I think whenever they [Pakistan] face European teams they fail to deliver,” he said.

Shahnaz noted that the European teams play pressure game, which forces Pakistan to go defensive. “Defensive game had never been the green-shirts’ approach and therefore they would always fail miserably by playing in this fashion. They must always play belligerent hockey as it has been the natural style of Pakistani players,” he underscored.—Agencies