KARACHI: Buoyed up by a Test series win against England last week, Pakistan are now trying to line up more hockey matches against European teams later this summer in a bid to raise a strong team for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
Pakistan, record four-time World Cup champions, have to win a qualifying tournament to make the cut for the next year’s edition of the quadrennial spectacle in India. A failure to do so, will throw Pakistan - World Cup history’s most successful team - out of the tournament for the first time.
The Greenshirts began their preparations for the qualifiers with a 2-0 win over England in a three-match series played in Cannock from June 3-July 3.
Team officials told Arab News that the brief trip provided their charges with valuable experience and exposure and are now urging for more such matches in the lead up to the qualifiers to be held later this year.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) is also convinced that the their team needs more matches against European opponents and has written to a number of leading hockey-playing nations in a bid to line up a series or two later this summer.
Letters have been sent to hockey officials in Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Belgium to explore the possibility of a series of matches in August and the PHF is hopeful of a positive response in spite of the fact that European teams have not shown much interest in playing against Pakistan in recent years.
PHF’s optimism springs from the fact that top European powerhouses are currently preparing for the top continental tournament to be held in Netherlands next month and could add a few matches against Pakistan in their preparatory programs.
World champions Germany, Netherlands, Spain, England, Belgium, Ireland, Austria, Russia and Scotland will feature in the European Nations Championship to be held in Amsterdam from August 22-30. The tournament will also serve as a qualifying event for the 2010 World Cup to be played in New Delhi.
In fact it is after the conclusion of the European championship that the International Hockey Federation (FIH) will announce the formation of the three World Cup qualifiers to be held in October-November this year.
The first qualifying event will be played in Lille (France) from Oct 31-Nov 8 followed by the next tournament in Invercargill (New Zealand) from November 7-15. The dates and venue for the third event is yet to be announced.
Pakistan may not be aware of the venue or the opponents they are going to face in the World Cup Qualifiers but one thing is quite clear. That is there is a big chance that some of their chief opponents are going to be from Europe.
“Europe is now the biggest hockey powerhouse,” said Shahid Ali Khan, the Pakistan coach. “You have to play regularly against European teams because that the only way we can catch up with them,” he told Arab News.
