Pakistan aiming to make history

15/02/2002

PAKISTAN will be out to make history in their 10th World Cup appearance
and if any Asian team is capable of lifting the title for the fifth time,
it must be the men in green.
Pakistan beat Australia twice in the Six-Nation and are tipped to meet
the Aussies again in the semifinals of the World Cup and one man could win
them their fifth title - Sohail Abbas.
Sohail broke all barriers in Pakistan when he scored his 151st goal
against Australia on Jan 24 in the pool match of the the Six-Nation in
Kuala Lumpur.
With that, the cracked Hassan Sardar's record of 150 goals and enjoys
the distinction of being Pakistan's leading goalscorer with 152 goals in
124 matches.
Following the retirement of the Holland's Floris-Jan Bovelander, Sohail
is the best penalty corner specialist in the world today with Dutchman
Bram Lomans a very close second.
Sohail's 60 goals in 1999 also shattered the world record of another
Dutchman Paul Litjens (58 goals) and the Pakistan national record of
Hassan Sardar (50 goals) in a calendar year.
Sohail also holds the record of scoring most hat-tricks for Pakistan. He
equalled Hassan Sardar's record of 13 hat-tricks for Pakistan when his
treble in the Azlan Shah Cup in August saw Pakistan edge Malaysia 4-3. His
14th hat-trick came at the Rotterdam Hockey club against Germany.
Sohail is definitely Pakistan's trumpcard as whenever they win a penalty
corner, the crowd goes wild knowing very well that Sohail is going to
deliver.
With the return to form of Shahbaz Ahmad, who played a sterling role as
feeder and penalty-corner getter in the Six-Nation, Pakistan look to have
it made in the World Cup but the tough teams in Group A could prove to be
stumbling blocks.
Germany, Holland, Spain and Argentina stand in their way and every team
knows that they must limit the number of penalty corners against Pakistan
if they want to win.
It could be said that the Pakistanis are the `Brazilians' of hockey
because their flair and accurate passing are a joy to watch. The stands of
the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil will definitely be filled when
they play.
Centreforward Kashif Jawad, a quiet but deadly `hitman' who topscored in
the Six-Nation with eight goals, is among the candidates nominated for
`Best Young Player' of 2001 by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
He single-handedly ensured Pakistan finished top in the warm-up to the
World Cup by helping his team beat the top two teams in the world -
Holland and Australia.
In 1998 in Utrecth, Pakistan crushed Malaysia, who were making a return
to World Cup competition after 16 years, 7-2 then beat England 7-5 but
their title quest was jolted when Spain edged them 2-1. Tahir Zaman could
have equalised but he missed from the spot.
The rankings in Group B were not decided until the final pool match, in
which Pakistan missed the semifinal losing 3-1 to Australia. Naveed Alam
became the first player to be red-carded in Utrecht.
Pakistan, the defending champions, were the only Asian side to make the
top six when they beat England 4-2 to finish fifth. South Korea, who beat
Canada 4-2, were seventh. Striker Seong-tae-Song scored all four South
Korean goals.
The Pakistanis will train in Singapore with matches against Japan and
Singapore today and tomorrow respectively.
They leave Singapore for Kuala Lumpur on Feb 18 and play another
practice match against Malaysia the same day.
FACTFILE
Focus on Pakistan
World Cup achievements: 1971 (Barcelona) - Gold,
1973 (Amsterdam)-4th, 1975 (Kuala Lumpur)-Silver,
1978 (Buenos Aires)-Gold, 1982 (Bombay)-Gold,
1986 (London)-11th, 1990 (Lahore)-Silver,
1994 (Sydney)-Gold, 1998 (Utrecth)-Fifth.
World Cup appearance: 10th time
Made the final: Six times
Players to watch : Shahbaz Ahmad, Sohail Abbas
Qualified: Finished fourth in the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
The Squad-Goal Keepers: Muhammad Qasim, Salman Akbar (Fullbacks); Sohail
Abbas, Tariq Imran, Ali Raza (Halves), Mohammed Usman, Mohamed Saqlain,
Wasim Ahmad, Ghazanfar Ali, Dilawar Hussain (Forwards), Mohamed Sarwar,
Mudassar Ali Khan, Atif Bashir, Kashif Jawad, Shahbaz Ahmad, Mohamed
Nadeem, Khalid Saleem, Mohamed Shabir.
Coach: Hanif Khan
Manager: Brig Khalid Khokar
FACTFILE
Sohail's penalty corner statistics:
152 Goals in 124 matches
Tournament Penalty corners scored
World Cup 2
Olympics 8
Champions Trophy 16
Asia Cup 16
Asian Games 9
Azlan Shah Cup 22
Other Tournaments 44
International Matches 35
Against Malaysia 12
jugjet@nstp.com.my
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