KARACHI: Pakistan’s head coach Khawaja Zakauddin yesterday announced his resignation following a humiliating eighth place finish by his team at the Beijing Olympics last week.
Soon after his arrival from Beijing early yesterday morning, Zaka said that he takes responsibility for the Olympic debacle, making it clear that most of the other competing teams were much better than Pakistan.
“Believing that I’m responsible for our bad showing in the Olympic Games, I’ve resigned as head coach,” Zaka told Arab News.
“Our team wasn’t up to the mark in Beijing. In fact the bitter truth is that the four semifinalists were way better than us,” he added.
Pakistan lost to Great Britain in its Olympic opener — a result which pretty much decided that the Greenshirts will miss out on a semifinal spot.
Three-time champion Pakistan defeated underdogs Canada and South Africa in their Pool B games but went on to lose against defending champions Australia and the Netherlands. Its misery worsened in the consolation pool play when New Zealand -- a lower-ranked team -- beat it 4-2 to consign the Pakistanis, who made their Olympic debut in 1948, to an all-time low eighth position.
Germany edged out Spain for their Olympic gold while Australia took the bronze ahead of the Dutch.
The top quartet sizzled in Beijing, making it clear that teams like Pakistan and even current Asian powerhouse Korea — who finished a poor sixth — are lagging far behind.
