KUALA LUMPUR – The Pakistan team believed they could have beaten the Netherlands, had one of their players not been removed in the fourth quarter of the opening Group D match between both teams at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil today.
Pakistan was however able to come from behind to draw the match 3-3.
Head coach Roelant Oltmans said that he expects more focus and discipline from his players in their upcoming matches so that they can progress further in the tournament.
“It was a good result, and my boys gave a good fight throughout the match, but I’m disappointed with my players’ discipline.
“They kept making several errors, and it cost us the match in the dying minutes of the game.
“Honestly speaking, we had all the chances to win the match, and the Netherlands were not as strong as I expected. We could have easily scored the fourth goal and won the match if only we didn’t have problems with our discipline.
“I need to urgently discuss this matter with my players before our next group match against New Zealand tomorrow,” said Oltmans in today’s post-match conference.
Oltmans also said his players should take full advantage of their familiarity with the Bukit Jalil turf and keep surprising their opponents who doubt their capability.
“The whole world would have been shocked now as we managed to draw against the European champions. This is something that other teams can only dream of, but we did it.
“But I’m not surprised by my players, as I know what they are capable of, and to see them getting a result like this with a lack of competition over the past few months is progress in my opinion.
“It’s time for us to keep up this momentum as we have experience playing on this turf, and we aim to keep proving our doubters wrong throughout this tournament,” Oltmans added.
Meanwhile, Netherlands head coach Jesse Mahiue said he was disappointed with his team for not holding up their fort, which led to Pakistan making a comeback in the match.
“It’s hard for us to digest this result as we were expecting a winning start in the tournament.
“Our energy dropped in the first five minutes, and then we got our yellow card, and we couldn’t cope with the heat.
“We knew that they were physical, and we need to up our conditioning. This pool is the most difficult group in the tournament, and it’s really hard to predict what is going to happen.
“We hope to do better in our next match against Belgium tomorrow,” said Mahiue.
Netherlands scored three goals through Boris Aardenburg (21st), Van Der Veen Casper (30th), and Olivier Hortensius (47th).
Pakistan’s three goals were scored by Arshad Liaqat (32nd), Sufyan Khan (36th), and Arbaz Ahmad (55th). – December 6, 2023