KARACHI, 2 November 2007 — Former Olympic champions Pakistan are finding it hard to get matches against top international teams in the leadup to next summer’s Beijing Olympiad.

National team officials want their team to play a series of matches against top Olympic contenders before going to Beijing but so far Pakistan have failed to book warm-up games because of lack of interest from leading hockey sides.

In stark contrast to the past when top teams used to relish an opportunity to play against the Pakistani maestros, the hockey world’s leading sides like Australia, Germany, Holland and Spain are now cool to the idea of competing against the under-performing Greenshirts.

Pakistan, who once ran roughshod over their rivals and used to win major international titles almost at will, have slumped to No. 6 in the world rankings after showing an indifferent form on the global stage. Their last major international crown came way back in 1994 when they won the World Cup in Sydney.

That’s not enough. Poor diplomacy on the part of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has left the country almost isolated in the international hockey community. So bad is Pakistan’s representation at the world or Asian level that they don’t have any of their officials occupying a worthwhile post in the International Hockey Federation (FIH) or the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF).

The PHF, which once played pivotal role in forming hockey rules or initiating major tournaments like the World Cup and the Champions Trophy, flopped miserably in its bid to get some of its nominees successful in the previous AHF elections that saw India and Malaysia taking most important positions on the continental body.

Things really look bleak for Pakistan hockey. The national team has been flopping miserably in recent seasons and the PHF has no clue how to bring an improvement in its performance.

The clock is ticking for the PHF and the national team. With the Olympic Games just nine months away, Pakistani hockey officials will have to find a way to ensure that their team goes to Beijing well-prepared.

Pakistan’s head coach Islahuddin Siddiqui believes his team will have to play up to 20 matches against top teams like Germany, Australia and Holland next summer in the leadup to the Olympics.

“The problem is that these teams are not interested in playing against our side,” PHF secretary Khalid Mehmood told Arab News in a phone interview.

“We are trying to fix a tour of Europe for our team before the Olympics but so far the response from Germany, Holland or Spain has been disheartening,” he added.

Khalid said that the PHF is making efforts to confirm maximum number of matches in the proposed tour of Europe during May-June but conceded that in the end Pakistan might have to contend with playing against teams like England, Ireland and Belgium, all ranked lower than the Greenshirts on the FIH computer rankings.

“We have learned that there will be a couple of tournaments in England and Ireland next summer and would try to enter our team for those events,” he said.

Islah, however, appears much more hopeful. The former Pakistan captain says that he will try to convince teams like Germany, Holland and Spain to play matches against Pakistan next summer. “I will be meeting officials of various team during the Champions Trophy and am hopeful of confirming a series of matches for my team in Europe,” he said.

Pakistan are to feature in this year’s Champions Trophy to be played in Kuala Lumpur from Nov. 29. World champions Germany, Olympic champions Australia, Spain, Holland, Korea, Great Britain and hosts Malaysia are the other participating nations.

Meanwhile, Islah believes his charges have improved their fitness in recent months but admits that they still lag far behind players from top teams like Germany, Australia, Spain or even Korea.

“When I took over as the head coach earlier this year, most of these boys were not in good shape so I told them that their primary task is to get fitter,” Islah told Arab News in an interview.

“Since then the boys have focused on becoming fitter and stronger and I must say that they are in better shape than they were about seven months back.”

But Islah made it clear that his players still have a long way to go in their bid to be on a par with the top sides.

“One of the reasons why we are not producing good results is the fact that we are not as fit as the Germans, Dutch, Spaniards or Koreans. We are certainly getting better but a lot of hard work is still needed,” he stressed.

Islah and fellow officials are currently preparing their players for the Champions Trophy.

Pakistan do not feature among the favorites for the title but Islah says that his team will give its best in the eight-nation contest.