Ex-players criticise Pakistani hockey team after loss
Many Pakistanis were disappointed with their national team's loss to India in the quarter-finals of the 2010 Commonwealth Games hockey tournament in New Delhi.
Among those who expressed their dissatisfaction were former Pakistani national team members.
Former national team captain and coach Samiullah Khan criticised the squad's poor defence.
"Pakistan had already lost the match in the first four minutes," said Khan, adding that the defenders allowed India's forwards to penetrate easily.
"After this, Pakistan seems to have no chance in the Asian Games," added Khan, who led Pakistan to victory at the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok.
Olympian Mohammad Qamar Ibrahim shared Khan's sentiments.
"It was clear that the responsibility of the whole defence only rested on the goalkeeper," said Ibrahim, who played for the gold-medal winning Pakistan team at the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing.
He added that Dutch head coach Michael van den Heuvel's instructions to concentrate on defence early in the game backfired.
"This style is alien to us and the team could not familiarise itself with it. We are used to a more offensive method," he said.
Former international player Mohammad Ali Khan also lamented the team's loss.
"Pakistani defenders appeared hopeless in front of the swift Indian forwards. It seems that after a creditable performance against Australia (where they lost by a small margin), the 'Green Shirts' grew complacent. The goalkeeper failed to rise to the occasion
and there seemed a lack of coordination between the players," he said.
India defeated Pakistan 7-4 in their quarter-final duel at the Maj Dhyan Chand National Stadium. Among those who watched the match were Indian political leaders Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul.
Pakistan won six of the first seven Asian Games hockey tournaments, losing only to India in 1966. The Pakistanis last won the Asian Games crown in 1990. They won a bronze medal at the 2006 Doha Asian Games.
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