Adil Najam
It is the Pakistani cricketers who are supposed to be erratic and unpredictable, disappointing one day and enthralling the next. But this time the Pakistan hockey team seems to be following a similar path at the 2010 Hockey World Cup now underway in India.
On the opening day of the tournament, Pakistan had lost decisively to hosts and arch-rivals India 4-1. Although neither country is today the hockey powerhouse it once was, Pakistan was totally overwhelmed by India. Placed in a pool that also has favorites Australia, Olympic silver-medalists Spain and England, this would have ordinarily have meant that Pakistan’s chances for a semi-final slot had nearly vanished entirely.
This, however, was not to be.
First, England pulled a stunning surprise 3-2 victory against Australia and then, in what is probably a bigger surprise, Pakistan edged out a 2-1 victory against Spain. Meanwhile, Australia has come back with a vengeance beating hosts India 5-2 in their second game.
Put together, all of this means that Pakistan is still very much in the game.
It means that, but really not much more than that. There is much more to go and none of this changes who the favorites are or the fact that the odds are still against Pakistan making it to the semi-finals, let alone winning the tournament. What it does mean is that we remain in the game, at least until our next encounter – with England on Thursday.
Good luck, Pakistan.
P.S… for those yearning for Pakistan’s glory days in hockey, may we recommend this past post on Abdul Waheed Khan; and for those who recall how the beginning of the end felt like, we strongly recommend this hockey humor video from Khalid Abbas Dar and friends – a performance that I had originally described as “the funniest hockey humor ever!”
You never know with Pakistan…when we fight with a spirit, absolutely no one can beat us which ever game we play. If we lose hope and play, even bangledesh can beat us in cricket! Same goes for this world cup. The body language in the match against India said we dont feel like winning. Against Spain, it was more like..we are not to be totally washed out..Really miss those good old days..1994 was last glorious year for our hockey. Shahbaz Ahmed was one of the finest players/captains we ever had in hockey. Hockey is still in our hearts otherwise all of us wouldnt have followed and noted the green shirts. Lets pray.. May Allah help our green flag bearers to victory. Allah bless Pakistan!
The next match against England is all crucial
the games remaining are against England, Australia and South Africa. Beating Australia is unlikely, but if we can beat England then against South Africa also we have a chance. It will be an upset, but I know we can do it. I hope we will.
@ Aslam
I think he wants them to play in white because in Green they lost to India and in whites they won vs Spain.
Anyone had doubts in the green theory of our Aalim needs more proofs?
:-)
Glad that they were able to make a comeback. It is really sad how hockey has gone down so fast in both India and Pakistan. If the two teams do well in this tournament it will be such a great encouragement for the game in the region.
Hockey? What hockey?
Do we still play hockey?