KUALA LUMPUR – Is Roelant Oltmans’ experience at the Bukit Jalil turf an advantage for Pakistan?
Pakistan may be late to arrive at the World Cup but the team is confident that their head coach’s experience at the Bukit Jalil turf will bring them good fortune.
Speaking to Scoop, Roelant said that his charges are looking forward to proving to the world what the “Flying Green Horses” are capable of.
“We only arrived last night due to our additional training sessions back in Lahore, but my players have nothing to worry about as I am familiar with the standards and quality of the Bukit Jalil turf.
“I have thoroughly prepared my players, and after our Sultan of Johor Cup tournament – in which we finished fourth – we had a couple of weeks of training.
“I can see that the team has improved, and many of my players have recovered from injuries for the World Cup.
“We have also added four new players (two midfielders and two defenders) to the team, and the rest are the same players who participated in the Sultan Johor Cup.
“I will also be relying on Abdul Wahab to score as many goals as possible in the tournament. This is by far the best team that I have assembled for the World Cup,” said Roelant.
The 69-year-old Dutchman also said that he will not carry any personal sentiments when his team faces his country of birth, the Netherlands, in the opening fixture tomorrow .
He also hopes to address his team’s flaws to achieve their quarterfinals target.
“We need to maintain consistency in our games. We tend to start well, but we fail to maintain possession most of the time thus causing us many problems. We aim to not repeat the same errors.
“We know we are in a very strong group, and it won’t be easy for us to reach the quarterfinals. The group we have includes two big European giants, and they are very strong.
“Holland is one of the favourites, and to rise up, we need to put in our efforts daily and push ourselves to accomplish our target,” Roelant added.
Before the appointment of Arul Selvaraj, Roelant was the head coach of Malaysia’s senior men’s hockey team from 2018-2020.
The 2023 FIH Men’s Junior World Cup will be played at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil from December 5 to 16. Entrance is free.
Making their 11th appearance in the tournament, Roelant’s charges will be hoping to do better compared to their previous outing in Bhubaneswar, India, where they finished 11th.
Roelant is grouped with European champions, Netherlands, Belgium and New Zealand in Group D for the World Cup.
The Flying Green Horse’s best result in the World Cup was winning 1979 in Versailles, France. – December 5, 2023