IPOH – Pakistan hockey head coach, Roelant Oltmans, praised his Canadian opponents for keeping his side on their toes in their fourth fixture at the ongoing Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
Oltmans’ response came after his side’s hard-fought 5-4 victory against Canada, which attracted approximately 200 fans at the Azlan Shah Stadium here today.
Pakistan and Canada have clashed 14 times since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, with Pakistan having a higher winning percentage of 71.43%.
The last time both sides met was at the 2022 Men’s Nations Cup in South Africa, which also ended with a 5-4 win for Pakistan.
Oltmans said he admired the improvement made by the Canadian side through their gameplay in the match, citing that the world number 19 team were threatening with their attacking prowess throughout.
“We need to credit Canada for putting on a fantastic display against us throughout the match as they kept pressuring us and kept us on our toes.
“The goals that they scored were fantastic, and I’m happy with the way they have evolved in this tournament. Though I was disappointed that we still had to fight for a comeback in this match, I’m glad that our results were positive, and we are still undefeated in this tournament.
“Sometimes our tactics work and sometimes they don’t, so I have no issues as long as we win our matches. Our penalty corners need to be improved as we had a total of 11 today and only scored from one of them.
“We really need to start improving our penalty corners if we hope to succeed at the Nations Cup, which is scheduled to take place in Poland at the end of this month,” said Oltmans during a post-match press conference.
Meanwhile, Canada head coach Patrick Tshutshani described their match against the world number 15 side as the best game they had played so far in the invitational tournament.
“Without a doubt, this was our best game so far, and I’m happy that my boys started the game really well. Our players showed a lot of character from the beginning till the end, and the discipline they maintained was top-notch.
“However, it would have been a bit better for our side if we had pushed a bit more in the game as we had a better advantage to win the match.
“But we are a young team and have a long way to go. Hence we will take this game as a learning experience to mould ourselves to become better in the future,” said Tshutshani.
Known as the “Red Caribou” by their fans, Canada, who have made three appearances in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup (1995, 1999 and 2019) in the past, took an early lead through Sean Davis in the fifth minute.
Harbir Sidhu, who was making his 25th appearance for his country, scored in the 17th minute to give Canada a 2-0 lead in the second quarter.
Abu Mahmood’s brace of penalty corners in the 28th and 29th minutes then brought Pakistan level.
Arshad Liaqat, who scored four goals in last year’s Men’s Junior World Cup at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, made it 3-2 to Pakistan in the 36th minute.
Rana Waheed Ashraf and Ali Ghazanfar then scored to make it 5-2 to Pakistan a few minutes before the end of the third quarter, while Davis and Avjot Buttar’s subsequent strikes were not enough to save Canada from defeat. – May 8, 2024