IPOH – Pakistan’s hockey head coach, Roelant Oltmans, is sick and tired of his team always having to catch up against their opponents in the ongoing Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
Oltmans’ response came after his side’s 1-1 draw against Japan in their third match at the Azlan Shah Stadium today.
Pakistan and Japan have clashed 28 times since the 1960 Rome Olympics, with Pakistan having a higher winning percentage of 46.43%.
The last time both sides met was at the Hangzhou Asian Games group stage, which ended with a 3-2 win for Japan.
Prior to Pakistan’s match against the Samurais, the Flying Green Horses won their opener against defending champions Malaysia 5-4, where they had to make a comeback from a three-goal deficit.
Pakistan’s second match in the tournament against South Korea saw them easily defeat the world number 12 side 4-0.
Oltmans said that he prefers to see his side winning comfortably instead of playing catch-up, which has been a norm for his world number 15 side in the tournament.
“Playing catch-up is something that I don’t like, and it puts our team at risk whenever we play teams that have immense pace with them.
“This has never been my strategy as I’m sometimes sick and tired of my players when they are forced to play in that manner.
“To ensure that we don’t play in that way, we really need to start scoring early and dominate through our possession and defence for the rest of the match.
“This is what I prefer to see from my players and not playing catch-up,” said Oltmans during a post-match conference.
At the same time, Oltmans was not entirely impressed with his players’ performance against the Samurais, citing that his charges should stop overly depending on set pieces and start playing as a unit.
“We can’t be relying on set pieces all the time. Even today, we had a chance to score through a penalty stroke, and it was not given to us.
“As a coach, I’m not bothered about the umpire’s decision as my players should have played better, even by trying to get more field goals.
“As a whole, I’m not impressed with my players’ performance against Japan today,” Oltmans added.
The opening goal of the match was scored by Japan’s Ken Nagayoshi in the 33rd minute through a penalty corner, while Rana Waheed Ashraf equalised for Pakistan in the 59th minute through a penalty corner.
Japan will take on defending champions Malaysia in their fourth match tomorrow, while Pakistan will face Canada on the same day. – May 7, 2024