Pakistani hockey officials are hoping that their most valuable player — Sohail Abbas — will finally exhibit big game temperament and catapult his team to a respectable finish at the 2011 Champions Trophy which explodes into action in Auckland (New Zealand) from December 3.The Pakistanis are featuring in the eight-nation spectacle for the first time in four years only after international hockey chiefs decided to grant them a wild-card entry.
Trailing at number nine in the world, Pakistan are the lowest-ranked team in the competition where fellow Pool A rivals Australia, the world number one team, are the favourites for the title.
Spain and Great Britain, ranked at number 4 and 5 in the world respectively, complete Pool A. Germany are bracketed in Pool B with European rivals Netherlands, Korea and hosts New Zealand.
Pakistan are fully aware that to make the cut for the last-four stage in the Champions Trophy they will have to better at least two of their group rivals.
It’s an uphill task but team officials believe that if their top man — Sohail Abbas — delivers then anything is possible.
“Hockey is a team sport and you can only guarantee good results if all your players deliver as a unit,” said Asif Bajwa, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary, in an interview with ‘The News’.
“But in good teams you have to have certain match-winning players. In our team the biggest match-winner is Sohail Abbas, there is no doubt about that. If he clicks then it will certainly have an impact on our team’s overall standing,” added Bajwa, a former Olympian.
Sohail, 34, is by a long distance, the most successful player in this current Pakistan team. With almost 350 goals, he holds the world record for the highest number of goals in the history of hockey.
But Sohail’s critics argue that he seldom clicks in a major tournament like the World Cup, Olympic Games or the Champions Trophy.
Bajwa believes that time has now come for Sohail to prove his critics wrong.
“Some people have been saying it for a long time that he (Sohail) doesn’t score goals in big events. I think that Sohail should prove his critics wrong. He should give his best in New Zealand because if he does that then I’m sure that it would help our team achieve good results.”
The fact is that age is not on Sohail’s side.
The 2012 Games in London next August will most likely mark his last Olympic appearance. In fact it will take a gigantic effort from the star defender to retain his place in the national team for the 2014 World Cup in Netherlands.
Time is certainly running out for Sohail, who last year achieved rare success in a major event when he helped Pakistan regain the Asian Games crown in China.
Bajwa is of the view that in spite of his age, Sohail is still the best drag flicker in the hockey world.
“Sohail has great credentials and experience. He is still the fastest drag flicker in the hockey world. He has been doing well in recent times and we are expecting great things from him in the Champions Trophy.”
But ask Sohail Abbas and the only promise he is making is to give his best in New Zealand.
“I’ve been playing for Pakistan for over 12 years and have always tried to give my best for the country,” he said before leaving for Auckland. “I will once again go all out and try to boost my team as much as I can but in the end hockey is a team game which is why I’m hoping that all of us will perform to our potential.”
Pakistan, who last won the Champions Trophy in 1994 in Lahore, will begin their campaign in the tournament with a match against Great Britain on December 3.
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