KARACHI, 21 September 2007 — Pakistan crashed to two of their worst defeats in the Asia Cup earlier this month but the team’s head coach Islahuddin Siddiqui says there is no need to panic.
Islah, a former Olympian, also refused to take responsibility of the Asia Cup debacle saying that a resignation over a shocking sixth position finish in the tournament was out of question.
“Why should I resign,” he told Arab News when asked whether he will quit over the latest disaster. “I’ve taken over as Pakistan coach for a two-year period and intend to complete my tenure,” he stressed.
Pakistan were stunned by underdogs Japan in a Pool A match of the 11-nation Asia Cup earlier this month and were later outclassed by China in the playoff for the fifth position. For the record three-time champions, who started the tournament as the top seeds, it was a shocking result and prompted top hockey officials back home to think about a full-scale inquiry.
However, Islah promised that his team will learn from its mistakes and will make a forceful comeback in the near future.
“As I’ve said time and again, our team needs three to four years before it starts winning titles,” he said. “So people will have to be patient. There is no need to panic,” added the coach who was hired by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to resurrect the fortunes of the country’s under-performing hockey team.
But during Islah’s tenure the performance of the national team has gone from bad to worse. Pakistan flopped miserably in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Kuala Lumpur and finished a disappointing third position in an Olympic test event in Beijing. The worst showing came in the Asia Cup in Chennai where the Greenshirts could only win against Asian minnows Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangladesh.
Islah blamed his strikers for missing too many opportunities in the Asia Cup and also pointed out that the Pakistanis lacked physical fitness.
“Things would have been different for us had we availed half of the chances that came our way (in the Asia Cup),” he said. “We have to improve in this area.”
Islah said that he and fellow coaches will work on the team’s weaknesses at the next training camp. Following the decision of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to move the Champions Trophy from Lahore due to security reasons, there are fears that Pakistan may not have any international assignment in the remaining part of the year.
“I don’t know which event we will be playing next but in any case we would have a couple of training camps to work on our flaws and to help the players improve their fitness,” said Islah.
