Abu Bakar saves Pakistan blushes against Malaysia

ISLAMABAD: Abu Bakar Mehmood Friday saved Pakistan blushes, scoring in the last minute through a penalty stroke to earn a 4-4 draw against Malaysia in the Nations Cup underway in Poland.

Pakistan were trailing 1-4 at one stage, making a mess of early opportunities coming their way before storming back and scoring three goals within the last 20 minutes to earn a draw.

Fatri Saari scored a brace with Kamal Azrahi, Fazali Saari managing once each for Malaysia. For Pakistan, Abdul Rehman netted the opener in 32 minute with Sufyan Khan (43rd minute) and Hannan Shahid (52 minute) were the other scorers for Pakistan.

Pakistan received as many as 14 penalty corners in the match against Malaysia and could only score once.

Malaysia team has been training in Poland for the last two weeks. The team departed from Malaysia once they finished their Azlan Shah Cup commitments. In another pool’s match, France blanked Canada 4-0. Pakistan will next play Canada tomorrow (Sunday) before taking on France on June 5.