It was a goal-fest from the word go and it stayed that way till the very fag end, with the winner and loser separated by the odd goal from nine. If Pakistan had come into the game to give a spanking to South Africa, the last qualifier and the lowest ranked of the entire dozen in action here, South Africa too had its own plans and ambitions to eke out their first win in this tournament. With six minutes to go, they may have had a feeling of being there. But a repeat of the last World Cup and the Commonwealth Games Pakistan did not allow the eventually drained and inconsolable South Africans.
Two goals in the last three minutes took them to a narrow 5-4 win, and the Team Pakistan’s sigh of relief was loud enough to nearly break the sound barrier.
The victory, only their second here in four games, means that they hang in there, albeit by the skin of their teeth. If the permutations come right for them, they might even qualify for the semis, though prospects of that coming to pass indeed are remote. Finishing third and getting into the playoffs for the 5th-6th slot seems a more realistic objective.
Such has been Pakistan’s plight in the last few years that it has slipped out of reckoning for the annual FIH event that it had created – the Champions Trophy. Given the circumstances, ending the Games in the top half shall at the least ensure qualification for that, keeping Team Pakistan abreast of the best in the global hockey.
Despite rain pelting down hard and throughout the game, making the conditions difficult and the ground heavy and waterlogged, it was surprisingly a game played at a very fast clip. Pakistan were set back very early, in the second minute through a field goal at Thornton McDade. That provided South Africans, a team high on spirit and camaraderie, the spur to attack. South Africa’s relentlessness gave Pakistan the jolt from which they took time to recover. Midway through the half though, Pakistani forwards did start stringing together some moves up-front, and Haseem Khan brought things to even keel in the 20th minute from a lovely opportunistic conversion from a field attempt.
In a couple of minutes, South Africa again got into the lead with Justin Reid-Ross, their short corner expert, making his presence felt. But now moving fluently and creating space deep around the South African goal, Pakistan scored twice in three minutes through Shafqat Rasool and Haseem Khan to lead 3-2 in the 25th minute. With half time looming, Reid-Ross denied them the satisfaction of going into the break with a lead with another penalty corner conversion.
Three minutes into the second half South Africa got its fourth goal and it was jitters time for Pakistan. Despite creating opportunities thick and fast, the equalizer was not being found. There were near-misses galore, Shakeel Abbasi letting two go abegging, unable to slot one home with the ‘keeper out of the way and an open goal at his mercy, while Shafqat Rasool botched yet another. With time running out fast, Pakistan got its last short corner out of four, and Sohail Abbas scooped it high and handsome to the right of the ‘keeper. Pakistan had found the equalizer. Three minutes later Waseem Ahmad, the veteran midfielder on the wrong side of thirties, found space and the urge to run with the ball right up, was thwarted, but his attempt on the rebound found the board to save his team’s blushes. Pakistan was not to be denied its three points.
A win is a win. There is no contesting that, but it quite often glosses over flaws and fragility. Pakistan has its share of problems in most areas, most gravely in a relatively inexperienced Imran Shah under the bar and its senior forwards not proving worth their salt. Nothing proves it more conclusively than a look at the stats: five goals out of 20 clear shots at the goal, four from 16 the ratio from the field (South Africa four out of 10, and two out of seven); short corner one out of four to South Africa’s two out of three.
And the Aussies – the next, quite imposing challenge – on Tuesday shall ask question to bring these shortcomings to sharp relief.
Yet Akhtar Rasool, the manager/chief coach expected his team to be a match to the aggressive Aussies. That is not really impossible, but Pakistan shall not just have to be on top of their game, they’d need to be mentally strong as well. If they played as if there is no tomorrow, maybe they can after all upset the Aussies and give a real headache to the stats guys to work out on who goes to the semis.
