KARACHI: Pakistan need to win two matches in the World Hockey League to get the fifth position in the pool and confirm their berth in the Rio Olympics 2014. The Green-shirts play against Ireland on Friday (today) at 4pm, in Antwerp, Belgium. Later today, France and Malaysia will clash and the winners will play against Pakistan later. Chairman national selection committee Islahuddin said that Pakistan would have to win against Ireland as well as the second match which could be either against France or Malaysia. He said that Ireland, France or Malaysia were not easy rivals. “But it does not mean that Green-shirts cannot defeat them,” he said. “Pakistan have played five matches so far, so they have got match experience and become used to the environment so they can play well and defeat them if they go with full motivation,” Islah said. He said that Pakistan played against Ireland in a practice match before the league and defeated them by 2-1. “The Green-shirts should be mentally tough in order to beat the Irish team once again,” he said. “The team management should go all out and direct the boys that attack should be their top property so that goals are scored. When attacking policy is adopted, even if goals are not scored, penalty corners can be got, which are another opportunity to score, particularly when we have two specialists for this job,” he added. Islah said that Pakistan had played France in the pool and the match was drawn 2-2. However, France played well against Pakistan in that match, he said. But they would be easier team than Malaysia for Pakistan, he said. “Malaysia can prove tough opponents for Pakistan,” he said. Pakistan captain Muhammad Imran said the Green-shirts have not lost hope. “We have played five matches and learnt a lot so we will play our best hockey in both matches as it is the question of Pakistan’s qualification for the Rio Olympics 2016,” he said. He said the boys had the capability to win both matches as they had done in the Champions Trophy in India. “We should not miss the chances of goal scoring and make our defence solid,” he said. “We will go all-out in these two matches.”
