Pakistan was unsatisfactory in the European tour, says Olympian Samiullah
The former legendary player of Pakistan Hockey, Samiullah, the Flying Horse, did not look much convinced with the performance of the Greenshirts in their recently-concluded European tour, which lasted almost for a month. Greenshirts collided with some of
the European hockey power-houses, like Germany and Netherlands along with England, Ireland, France, Belgium and China.
“Pakistan team hardly gained anything from the recent European trip with the old, tried and tested lot forming 80 percent of the squad and only 20 percent youngsters getting their chance in the playing XI. PHF wasted a golden opportunity to test and groom
young talent against the European teams and to build an outfit for the London Olympics 2012,” Samiullah, the Flying Horse, stated his opinion about the Greenshirts’ European tour.
The legendary striker, who represented Pakistan in 1976 Montreal Olympics and also was the member of the world Cup Winning Squad in 1982 which held in Mumbai, India, also showed some concerns over the selection of the players for the tour.
“Whatever results Pakistan hockey team achieved on the tour were not impressive. A majority of the players comprising the team during the tour were old and senior players and only a few new players were inducted which in my opinion is not a wise strategy
for the future. A 50-50 ratio of seniors and newcomers in the team would have paid dividends,” the Olympian, Samiullah, further added to his comments about the selection of players in the recently concluded European tour.
The Greenshirts participated in two Four-Nation tournaments, one in Dublin, Ireland and the other in Amsterdam, Netherlands along with a two match Test series against each of Belgium and Netherlands.
The Greenshirts won the Dublin title in which France and China participated along with the hosts, Ireland to whom Pakistan defeated in the final. In the second Four-Nation tournament in Netherlands, in which they compete against Germany, England and the
Dutch, the national team finished at the bottom by not winning a single match. The national team also played two Test matches against Belgium, winning and losing a game and also two Test matches against Netherlands in which they drew the first, while lost
the second.
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