KARACHI: Pakistan coach Shahid Ali Khan doesn’t see his team’s disappointing defeat to New Zealand in the Champions Challenge final in Salta (Argentina) as a setback for their World Cup preparations, saying that the Greenshirts are on the right track for a good showing in New Delhi.
Shahid told Arab News in an interview on Wednesday after returning home from Salta that his team needs to work hard on a few key areas, adding that Pakistan will carry out extensive training sessions in the coming weeks to get fully ready for the World Cup to be played in the Indian capital Feb. 28 to March 13.
“It was disappointing to lose to New Zealand in the final,” said Shahid, a former Olympian who was hoping to help Pakistan make the cut for next year’s Champions Trophy in Berlin. “The boys played well but failed to rise to the occasion in the final (against New Zealand). They’ve learned that you cannot relax even for a single minute in modern day hockey and I’m sure that they would show improvement in the future,” he stressed.
Pakistan came agonizingly close to winning a Champions Trophy spot when they reached the Champions Challenge final but lost to the Kiwis 2-4. New Zealand have now qualified for the elite six-nation Champions Trophy to be played next summer.
Pakistan were hoping to win the title in Salta to give themselves a boost after having claimed the World Cup Qualifiers in Lille (France) last month.
However, Shahid said that his team’s morale was high in spite of the defeat in Argentina. “I don’t think that our World Cup preparations have suffered a setback,” he said.
“I mean it would have been great had we won the Champions Challenge but we committed a few mistakes and paid the price for it. But I’m confident that the team will not repeat them in future, especially in the World Cup.”
Pakistan, four-time world champions, have been drawn against Australia, Spain, England, India and South Africa in Pool B of the 12-nation event. On current form and world ranking, Pakistan don’t have any bright chances of qualifying for the semifinals but Shahid is confident his team can do it. “Our target is to reach the World Cup last-four and personally I believe it can be done,” he said. “We have won against teams like India, England and South Africa in the recent past while Spain also look quite beatable. If we play to our potential anything can happen in the match against Australia, which is currently the world’s best team. That is why I’m confident we can reach the semifinals in New Delhi.”
However, Shahid made it clear that his charges will have to overcome a few weaknesses that were exposed by teams like Argentina and New Zealand in Salta.
“We were really bad in our short corner defense,” said Shahid whose team conceded too many goals off short corners during the eight-nation Champions Challenge. “There were 15 or 16 attempts off which eight resulted in goals against us and that’s quite alarming,” he added.
Shahid said that goalkeeper Salman Akber - generally regarded among the best in the game - was unable to give his best in Salta. “Salman will have to improve,” he said. “He seems to have lost his focus and will need to work hard before the World Cup.”
Salman is one of the four Pakistani players who play professional hockey in Europe regularly these days.
Shahid said that Salman has a break from his club commitments till next May, adding that the goalie can regain his form by attending the national training camp which will begin in Lahore early next month.
Himself a former goalkeeper, Shahid said that he would personally supervise Salman’s training regime for the World Cup. “In today’s hockey, half of the game is won or lost by your goalkeeper which is why Salman is our key player and needs to improve ahead of the World Cup,” said the coach.
