Former Olympian Shahnaz Sheikh has said that an aggressive appraoch is required to win the Men's Hockey Asia Cup, which will qualify the national team for the World Cup 2014. The Asia Cup will be held from August 24 to September 1 in Malaysia. The winner of this tournament will earn a berth in the World Cup 2014. The Pakistan team had finished seventh in the World Hockey League (WHL), which was also a qualifier for the World Cup.
Talking to APP on Sunday, Shahnaz, who played between 1969 and 1978, said the only chance for Pakistan to qualify for the mega event was the Asia Cup. Both Pakistan and India will try to win to the Asia Cup, he added.
He said the Asia Cup would be a tough competition for Pakistan. The group, in which Pakistan will play, also includes Malaysia, Japan and Taiwan, while South Korea, Bangladesh, Oman and India make up the other group, he added.
Shahnaz, who was capped 68 times and had scored 45 goals for the Pakistan National Hockey Team, said the players were not upto the mark in defence and goal-keepering. "Our forward players are average, who should improve their game," he remarked.
Shahnaz said he had time and again advised the high-up of Pakistan Hockey Federation to make the players focuse on the attacking hockey, which was the demand of modern day game.
He said coach Tahir Zaman should adopt an aggressive approach if he wanted Pakistan to win the Asia Cup. The tournament would be a do-or-die battle for Pakistan, which could be won by an aggressive and attacking game, he added. Shahnaz said the conversion rate of penalty-corners into goals should also be improved. If the people sitting at the helm of affairs in the PHF could not do anything better, then they should let the others come forward to work for improving the game, he said.
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