Hockey Update: Sohail Abbas looks more laurels for Pakistan
Legendary drag-flicker and veteran player of the Pakistan’s hockey team, Sohail Abbas who has not believed on tall claims, expressed great hopes for the Greenshirts for upcoming mega events including the 2012 London Olympics and the World Cup in 2014.
Following the great victory in the Asiad, Sohail Abbas is looking forward to acquire more laurels for Pakistan in the future.
‘Shyly’ Sohail Abbas though is the highest goal scorer in the world but always avoids the spotlight and the media as much as he can, but gained much confidence by the historic victory in the Asiad held last month in Chinese city of Guangzhou. He became more
vocalised and expressed great hopes for future of hockey in Pakistan.
The Greenshirts clinched a victory in the Asian Games after two decades as their last win was in 1990 in China. With the memorable victory in the Asian Gala, Pakistan attained an automatic slot in the 2012 London Olympics.
Abbas was of the view that the space between Pakistan and the top ranking teams like Australia, the Netherlands and Germany is nailing down which is a really pleasing for the Greenshirts.
Legendary short corner, Sohail Abbas talking to reporters said, “We are certainly on the way up after years of frustration, it’s finally happening. The gap between us and top team like Australia, Germany, and Holland is now narrowing down and that’s
really something to cheer about.”
Abbas was one of the main factors, who played pivotal role in the gold medal of the Asian Games after two decades and for the automatic qualification in the London Games. However, short corner specialist is not ready to take all the credit alone and declared
the hard work of the whole team and training of coaches as major reasons in the triumph.
Appraising the role of Dutch coach, Michel Van Den Heuvel, Abbas said that they took great benefits from their coach and physical trainer and made the victory possible. The Greenshirts could accomplish more glory in the future tournaments like the London
Games, the World Cup and the Champions Trophy if they continue the same spirit, he added.
Abbas maintained that they would have to uphold the same hard work and performance level in the future, adding that the more number of matches would help them to keep their graph up. He was of the view that they should not miss the golden chance to revive
the past glory of the game in the country.
Having the record of top goal scorer in the world is a different thing but Abbas admitted that the gold medal in the Asiad is more pleasing and delightful of anything else.
Abbas in a ravish state said that he always dreamed a major victory for the country but, unluckily, it was not fulfilled earlier.
The luck was not in the favour of Pakistan team in the past, however this time God blessed them and they succeeded to achieve the triumph, which swept away joys and delights to every corner of the country.
Commenting about the confidence level of the team’s players, Abbas said that the Asian Games gold had really boosted up their confidence, adding that they would have to build up on it and think for gold in other major events.
Abbas described the team saying, “We are really united. There is a lot of team spirit, which is really vital to achieve international success. Nobody played selfishly in the Asian Games and that’s a great sign.”
Quite lamentably, Abbas stated that he marked a lot of goals in his career but unluckily could not win as much major titles for the team.
Abbas rejected the impression that he is going to quit hockey saying that he is quite fit and would carry till the London Games. He desired that he wanted to conclude his career by bringing an Olympics gold.
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