Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Team Pakistan outclassed second-ranked in world hockey and Olympic champions Argentina by 4-1 in the Champions Trophy in Breda, Netherlands on Thursday. This is the first victory of Green shirts in the tournament. In the previous games, Pakistan team faced back-to-back defeats against India, Australia and the Netherlands. In one of the most impressive displays in recent years, Pakistan gained three points in the Dutch city. Pakistan started the match well as in the early games. They were seen losing concentration after sometime but not yesterday. The defence remained organised throughout and there were some breath taking moves up front especially in the last quarter. First three quarters was more or less evenly played. Both the sides had chances and penalty corners. A classic right side build up saw Umar Bhutta sending a back pass from the goal line inside the circle to Mohammad Irfan Jr, who standing in an ideal spot confidently put it in to put Pakistan into the lead in the 10th minute.
Up and down game continued. Argentina equalised in the penultimate minute of the first half. A good ball into circle was sent to the goal by Matias Paredes from close range.
It was the same story in the third quarter with the two sides looking for a goal but not getting one. The last 15 minutes saw Pakistan go berserk. They repeatedly tore apart the Argentine defence. Despite wasting some easy chances, they found the target thrice. Off their fourth penalty corner, Mubashar Ali’s powerful flat push went through the legs of the goalkeeper. A couple of minutes later, the most delightful goal of the match was seen. Skipper Mohammad Rizwan Sr took a ball from own half, ran for about 20 metres before passing to Rashid Mahmood. Rashid ran into the circle and his deceptive pass reached unmarked Ajaz Ahmed in front of the goal who deflected it into the net. Tempers flared and two Argentine and one Pakistan players were shown yellow cards in the last quarter.
Pakistan’s fourth goal came in the 58th minute. Ammad Shakeel Butt, playing his 100th international today, brilliantly entered the circle from the right side. He was thrown down by Pedro Ibarra and the umpire had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty stroke spot. Up stepped Aleem Bilal sent the goalkeeper the wrong way. Pakistan’s overall ascendancy was also manifested by 17 shots on the goal as compared to 13 by Argentina. They were also ahead in the penalty corner count by six to three.
Pakistan won the inaugural edition of the Champions Trophy held in Lahore in 1978 by beating Australia in the final. Four years later, Pakistan picked up their second title beating West Germany in Karachi. The last time Pakistan picked up the Champions Trophy title was in 1994 in Lahore, when they beat Germany (7-6) on penalty strokes. Not only does Pakistan have three titles under its belt, the green shirts have finished as runner-up seven times in the tournament in 1983, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1996, 1998, and 2014. Six teams are taking part in this year’s tournament, which is the last edition of the Champions Trophy. The tournament will be replaced by the Hockey Pro League (HPL) in 2019.

Published in Daily Times, June 29^th 2018.