By Rajeev Kumar
Bhubaneswar, Dec 11: Pakistan enjoy knockout hockey. Their Thursday 4-2 win over the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the Champions Trophy here is just another proof of this. They not only put their poor show in the tournament behind, but also booked a birth in the semifinals of the tournament for the second time since 2012.
While the World Cup silver medallists the Netherlands lost their second match in a row after they were defeated by India in their last pool B match, Pakistan, who failed to win in the pool stage, looked a different side altogether, as they surprisingly dominated the Dutch for most part of the match.
The Oranjes had the opportunity to dominate from the very beginning when Jeroen Hertzberger’s powerful shot from the middle of the Pakistan ‘D’ provided the Dutch their first goal in the sixth minute. Jeroen’s run was earlier checked by Pakistan defenders but he managed to get the ball in his hitting range.
However, Pakistan broke their early dominance with a clever show of counter attack. Just after the first goal, Mink van der Weerdeen’s drag flick was brilliantly saved by skipper Muhammad Imran.
Pakistan’s counter-attack started giving results in the second quarter. Umar Bhutta (16th) hit an equaliser banking on the right wing work of Mumhammad Waqas who set the platform for bringing back Pakistan in the game early on.
Just before going into the big break, Imran doubled the lead firing a penalty corner low past the Netherlands goalkeeper Jaap Stockman.
The Netherlands controlled the game better after the break. Constantijin Jonker(39th) picked a cross from Rogier Hofman to score a crafty goal.
However, Pakistan were in no mood to sit back. Inspired by their coach, they kept the pressure on and were rewarded with two penalty corners which were successfully converted by Muhammad Irfan(51st and 52nd), whereas the Dutch missed on converting two penalty corners (41st and 52nd).
As soon as the match ended, Pakistan players started celebrating their first success. “This is the result of our hard work, not just good luck. We dominated the match and played well,” Pakistan player Rashid Mehmood said.
The Netherlands coach, Max Caldas was, however, disappointed with the performance of his team. “This is not the way play. We lacked discipline and never looked like we were playing to win,” he said.