World champions four times and runners-up twice, Pakistan have been a pale shadow of the great teams of the past at this tournament. They stuck to the same lacklustre theme in the classification match as well, with the Canadians clinching the 11th place in extra-time.
“It is the worst day in the history of Pakistan hockey,” admitted Shahid Ali Khan, Pakistan’s coach.
“When we came here, we thought we will finish in the top-five but after the defeat in the first match, a comeback proved difficult. We played well in patches, but that is not enough against the top teams,” he added.
Asked whether he would quit owning responsibility for the defeat, he said he would go back home and decide after consulting his family.
“If the federation thinks they can find a better man for the job, they are welcome to appoint him. I do think this team has the potential to do well in the Asian Games,” he said, and pointed out that the team relied too much on senior players like Rehan Butt and Sohail Abbas here.
The former goalkeeper, while welcoming the move to revive the test series between India and Pakistan, said unless the two countries played more against European nations, there was no chance of improving the standards. “It’s good to play against each other, but it’s important to play tougher teams to raise our standards,” he said.
Golden goal
Earlier, after the regulation time finished 2-2, Scott Tupper scored the golden goal in the 13th minute of extra-time to confine Pakistan to the basement.
Pakistan were ahead twice in the match, with Rehan Butt and Ali Akhtar netting the goals in the fourth and 46th minutes. But Canada fought back both times, first through Connor Grimes (12th) and Mark Pearson (58th) before Tupper struck the final blow.
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