LAHORE: Head coach of Pakistan men’s hockey team Tahir Zaman on Friday, asserted that their enthralling victory over France in the FIH Nations Cup semi-final dismissed the ‘myth’ of their inability to excel in penalty shootouts.
The green shirts endured a gruelling heartbreak in the Asian Champions Trophy semi-final against China last year when they failed to net a single penalty during the shootout and thus succumbed to a 2-0 defeat.
Their multiple failures in the penalty shootouts raised concerns but Pakistan head coach Zaman claimed that they have been put to rest with their stunning victory over France earlier today.
“We have quashed the myth of shootout which was going on for the last two to three tournaments,” said Zaman.
Reflecting on his team’s overall performance in the high-stakes clash, Zaman lauded the team effort and reserved special praise for their comeback despite being 2-0 down.
“Our players made a remarkable comeback today and beat France on shootouts to qualify for the final. Credit to them, it was good teamwork as they did not give up despite being two-goal down and proved that there is still spark and worth in Pakistan hockey,” Zaman stated.
“It was a good team spirit. Boys learnt from their mistakes,” he added.
Tahir Zaman then expressed his hope that they would win the FIH Nations Cup final against New Zealand and qualify for the FIH Pro League. He also urged the nation to pray for their success.
“Tomorrow’s match is very important for us because it’s a final against New Zealand and by the will of Almighty Allah, we can qualify for Pro League by winning it,” Zaman said.
“The way the entire nation prayed for us today, I hope they will pray for our success in the final as well. We will work hard to make Pakistan proud by winning tomorrow’s match,” he concluded.
Sohail Imran is a senior reporter for Geo News.
