The Pakistan squad recently returned from Lille, France after completing a successful stint in the qualifying rounds of the hockey World Cup 2010, defeating Japan 3-1 in the final to make the grade.
‘We will be preparing for the mega event with an aim to finish among the top six and will be playing competitive hockey against tough sides like Holland, Australia, Germany and Spain,’ Zeeshan assured Pakistani fans on Wednesday.
Pakistan will be appearing in the 12th Men’s World Cup 2010, scheduled to be held in India from Feb 28 to March 13.
Twelve hockey-playing nations will compete for the top hockey award of the world. ‘All our focus will now remain on the final battle which is the World Cup,’ he said.
‘Our first target is to prepare with our potential in an upcoming Champions Challenge Cup, to be held in Argentina.’ The Champions Challenge Cup is scheduled to be held in Salta, Argentina from Dec 6-13.
Answering a question, the captain added: ‘We still have some time to prepare for the World Cup. The best way to prepare is to play Test series against a few European nations and other strong outfits.’
Commenting about the World Cup qualifiers, Zeeshan said: ‘We have successfully converted several opportunities into goals which is an evidence of our skill and performance and goes out to prove that the team has finally overcome its weaknesses,’ said a confident-looking Zeeshan.
‘The current team is a combination of young and experienced players and hopefully we will make our mark over there in the World Cup.’
Regarding the coaching of the national squad, Zeeshan asserted: ‘The team is being trained on modern scientific lines by the coaching team engaged by the Pakistan Hockey Federation.’
Shahid Ali Khan, chief coach of the triumphant team, has said that the players are worthy of producing good results in the forthcoming Champions Challenge Cup.
‘The team surely is in rhythm and being placed in the same pool as Argentina, Canada and South Africa, we have a good chance of moving ahead if we have luck on our side,’ he said.
Speaking about the team’s other big assignment, the World Cup, he said that he will be happy even if Pakistan reached the semi-final stage.
‘We should not become overconfident by our victory in the qualifiers and be realistic about the challenges ahead. Frankly, I would be satisfied if the team makes it to the final four in New Delhi, next year,’ he said.
About fullback Sohail Abbas’ return to form at the right time, he said that he had confidence in his abilities and it was good that he was able to perform up to expectations.
‘Sohail converted as many as nine penalty-corners becoming the highest scorer of the qualifiers while Mohammad Imran converted two. Our conversion rate has gone up to around 80 per cent,’ he said.
About his team’s attacking stance throughout the qualifiers, he said: ‘Well, we had to maintain an attacking posture against our opponents there.’
Pakistan lost the last round match to Poland by 2-3. Explaining what went wrong in that game, the former Olympian said that it was better that it happened in a match that didn’t matter much.
‘We had already qualified for the final and thought of giving more rest to our seniors in order to avoid injuries, etc., as we expected playing Japan, a team stronger than the rest, again in the final,’ said Shahid.
‘We were 2-0 up when Poland came back into the game. That was when we called back Rehan and Sohail but it was a bit late by then. Still, it was not the final, which we have been losing usually. But it was a wake-up call for us, nonetheless.’
The PHF has announced 25 players for the training camp for the Champions Challenge 1 to be held at the National Hockey Stadium, Lahore, from Nov 15.
Players: Nasir Ahmad, Zeeshan Ashraf, Sohail Abbas, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Irfan, Fareed Ahmad, Sajjad Anwar, Zeeshan Ali, Syed Sibtain Raza, Mohammad Rashid, Waqas Sharif, Shafqat Rasool, Abdul Haseem Khan, Mohammad Zubair, Akhtar Ali, Shakeel Abbasi, Rehan Butt, Salman Akbar, Waseem Ahmad, Syed Abbas Haider Bilgrami, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Omer Bhutta, Sajid (GK Punjab), Ghafoor (Steel Mills) and Amir Shahzad.
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