KUALA LUMPUR – Is Pakistan’s humility a hidden formula for success?
Pakistan prefers to remain humble with their hopes of winning the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup after thrashing New Zealand 4-0 in their second group encounter at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil today.
Pakistan head coach Roelant Oltmans said that he has advised his team to not be overconfident, urging his players to focus on the upcoming match against Belgium on Saturday.
“Everyone dreams of winning the World Cup, and we too aspire to claim this prestigious title, considering our last victory was in 1979 in Versailles, France.
“While we’ve secured two impressive results against strong teams, it’s crucial not to be overconfident, as the real test lies ahead in this tournament.
“We prefer to remain calm and continue our journey in this tournament by approaching one game at a time.
“We hope to maintain this consistency and concentrate on our next game against Belgium as that’s going to be a tough match since they are one of the best teams in the world,” said Oltmans in today’s post-match conference.
The coach also said that he was surprised with the current condition of the Bukit Jail turf and hopes his players will improve from their minor errors.
“It seems like the condition of the turf was not on our side today as the ball kept mistrapping whenever we were launching our attack.
“Normally the turf is always in good condition and maybe I think the condition of the turf is such due to heavy rain over the past few days.
“However, my players kept their cool throughout their match as New Zealand made few errors with their positioning and in the defense.
“But I have no major complaints about my players as they have been doing well so far despite not having much tournament experience unlike the other teams in the tournament,” Oltmans added.
Arshad Liaqat scored the opening goal for Pakistan in the 19th minute.
The 20-year-old attacker then scored in the 30th minute and completed his hat trick in the 54th minute.
Deep-lying attacker Hannan Shahid contributed to Pakistan’s four-goal margin with a goal in the 32nd minute.
Pakistan temporarily tops Group D with four points, while Belgium sits in second place with three points, with the Netherlands staying third in the group standings with one point.
The Belgians will take on the Dutch side later today. – December 7, 2023