Pakistan hockey coach, Roelant Oltmans said there was no excuse of green-shirts knocking out of the semi final contention after a 4-0 defeat by Spain in the Olympics hockey tournament.
"Simply there is no excuse for the defeat as we did not play up to the mark to match our opponents, who played a fantastic game and won a match of high importance," he said Sunday.
Pakistan with two defeats at the hands of Germany and Spain, two victories against Egypt and South Korea, are now out of the race. Spain with eight points and still one match ahead against Egypt has surpassed 'them for the semi final qualifications.
Pakistan's Dutch coach said his side lacked to counter the speed and game plan of the opponents who availed the opportunities that came across their way.
"They were fantastic and it is not shame 'to lose against such rivals," he commented when asked about the game plan of Spaniards.
He admitted that Pakistan team was forced to make errors, which eventually led to a defeat which, brought adverse, results on its further qualification in the event.
"Obviously I am disappointed that our dream of making it to the semi final has been lost and we have failed to achieve our objective in the Olympics, he added.
The FIH master coach who is associated with Pakistan team for the past eight months confessed the defence of his team was not solid as a lot of space was left for the opponents who made constant inroads and scored goals.
"He attributed failure of forwards and lack of luck for not getting number of penalty corners as the main reasons for team's defeat.
When asked what is his next target in the event, the coach said: "To focus on the next three games to secure a place between fourth and fifth positions." "It is really sad 'to end up in that manner in Olympics, he said adding the result in one match in a pool of death has changed the whole scenario."
Assistant coach, Tahir Zaman said the players failed to exhibit structural and organised hockey, which they demonstrated in the earlier match, especially against Germany by losing with a narrow margin of 1-2.
"The team should have put up a resolute fight to give them (Spain) tough time but they succumbed to the pressure which was a real disappointed," he observed.
He termed teams performance below the expectations and said he was not even thinking that his side would bow down in such a manner. "For me, it is a shame that my side after encouraging performances nose dived and I am really upset the way they played," he said.
Tahir said every match of Olympics is always important and one result can change the fortune of teams and it happened with Pakistan.
"Still we have to play a few more games and we must need to lift our performance, which is only possible to boost the morale of the players who are obviously sad and frustrated after the defeat," he said.
Spain coach Morris Hendriks termed the victory against Pakistan a big achievement, which, he said, was beneficial for his side to progress to the semi finals. "We were ahead in attacks and other departments of the game and outplayed Pakistan and blocked their entry 'to the semi final," he added.
Hendriks said he was delighted that his side was progressing step-by-step in the tournament adding he expect the same from them in the matches to come. "I do not have specific target but I just want to concentrate on each match," he said.
The Spanish coach said Pakistan team lacked in physical fitness and it was time to improve hockey culture in Pakistan by brining in modern methods.
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