The nation wants nothing but a gold in the Athens Olympics, especially in hockey, and the Olympic qualifying rounds, to be played in the Spanish capital of Madrid from March 2 to 13, will be a litmus test for the new combination of senior and junior players, who had undergone an extensive training under Dutch coach Roelent Oltmans at the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore.
A success in the Madrid event will certainly boost the morale of the players. Since teams like New Zealand, Malaysia, besides India, are in their pool, Pakistan will have a tough time and any slackness on the ground will deprive Pakistan of the chances of moving ahead.
Pakistan team left for Madrid on Feb. 22, 10 days before their opening match against Canada.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) is concentrating on the Madrid event, and for this purpose, hired Dutch coach Oltman to work out plans and strategies and groom the players to win the Olympics title in two decades.
The PHF top brass has advised the coach to concentrate more on the individual skills and to sharpen their technical proficiency of the players.
With signs of improvement in the hockey, one hopes the boys will maintain the rhythm needed for any mega event.
BELOW STANDARD: During the past few years, Pakistan hockey team's performance was below standard because of inconsistent attitude of the boys, reports from the training camp indicate that Oltmans had concentrated more on the individual's skills and sharpened their technical proficiency, besides inculcating in the players the sense of consistency.
It may be recalled that Oltmans was the coach of Holland team for the 1996 Olympics in Athens and helped the Dutch team to qualify for the Olympics and finally win the Olympics title.
Since Pakistan are placed in Pool "B" of the qualifying round, comprising India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Belgium and Canada, Pakistan will, therefore, have to face the only toughest team in their pool, India.
Australia, being the regional champions will have a direct entry in the Olympics along with world and European champions Germany.
After the Madrid event, Pakistan will undertake a training tour of Europe, which include a four-nation tournament in Hamburg (Germany) and Test matches against Holland and Germany.
The European tour will provide Pakistan team to accalamitise with the European climate and get in touch with the European tactics they will be facing in the Athens Olympics.
However, Oltmans is satisfied with the training of the boys is optimistic about the positive results in Madrid.
He is reported to have said that a win in the Olympic qualifiers would certainly be a big morale-booster, as it would the last major competition for Pakistan before the summer Olympic Games.
At the same time, Oltmans warned that besides India in qualifiers, Pakistani players should get ready to Germany and Australia in the contest for top honours and they would make things very tough for Pakistan.
He reminded the players that just qualifying for the Olympics should not be considered the only target, as the team was aiming to win its first Olympic title in two decades.
Oltmans said if the team won the contest, it would help the team to get a better draw in the Athens Games.
WARM-UP MATCHES: However, the team has landed in Madrid and by the time this piece appears, Pakistan would have played two warm-up matches against England on Feb. 25 and against defending Olympic champions Holland on Feb. 28.
Despite a poor show during 2003, Pakistan's performance in the Azlan Shah Cup Hockey Tournament was much improved. The national team, after remaining unbeaten throughout the league matches, made it to the final. But as expected, a determined Australia put a seal on Pakistan's attack to triumph and beat them 4-3.
In the tournament, they played with a bit of consistency, which helped them reach the final. Since the Olympic qualifier will be a different event form the Azlan Shah Cup, it is hoped that Pakistan team will enter the tournament with an aggressive approach and would take the Madrid event as a lollypop.
TEAM: The team selected form among the 24 probables, comprises Mohammad Nadeem (captain), Ahmad Alam, Salman Akbar (goal-keepers), Mian Raza, Sohail Abbas, Zeeshan Ashraf, Ghazanfar All, Muhammad Saqlain, Dilawar Husain, Wasim Ahmad, Adnan Maqsood (midfielders), Rehan Butt, Mudassar All Khan, Kashif Jawwad, Shabbir Husain, Shakil Abbasi, Mohammad Sarwar, Salim
Khalid (forwards).
SCHEDULE: March 2: South Africa v
Hqlland; New Zealand v Malaysia; Poland v England;
Pakistan v Canada; Spain v Japan, India v Belgium. March 3: Japan v Poland; South Africa v Spain; and Holland v England.
March 4: Belgium v Pakistan; Malaysia v India; and Canada v New Zealand.
March 5: Japan v England; Spain v Holland; and Poland v South Africa.
March 6: New Zealand v Belgium; Canada v Malaysia; and Pakistan v India.
March 7: England v Spain; South Africa v Japan; and Holland v Poland.
March 8: Belgium v Canada; India v New Zealand; and Malaysia v Pakistan.
March 9: Canada v India; Japan v Holland; Belgium
V Malaysia; South Africa v England; Spain v Poland; and New Zealand v Pakistan.
March
March 10:Rest"day.