Pakistan to play practice matches before Nations Cup

KARACHI: Pakistan’s senior hockey team has completed the first phase of its training camp in Wah Cantt, head coach Olympian Tahir Zaman announced on Thursday.

The second phase will begin with the Green Shirts playing three practice matches against the Pakistan junior hockey team. Zaman spoke to The News on Friday after the camp’s conclusion. The senior team is preparing for the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup in Malaysia, scheduled from June A15-21, 2025, in Kuala Lumpur.

Zaman emphasized that the Nations Cup is a tough competition, with all teams, except Japan and Wales, ranked higher than Pakistan. He said the team would arrive in Malaysia at least one week before the tournament to acclimatize to the weather and play practice matches against other teams. Pakistan will request three practice matches before the event, depending on which teams arrive early.

Zaman mentioned France, Wales, and South Africa as potential opponents for these matches. The first phase of the training camp focused on physical conditioning, penalty shootouts, goal-scoring, goalkeeping, and other strategies. Zaman addressed concerns about Pakistan’s penalty corner (PC) execution in recent matches.

Despite earning 28 PCs in four matches against Germany last month, Pakistan only scored two goals. Germany, the current world champions in both senior and junior hockey, won all four test matches.

It has to be mentioned that out of four matches Pakistan hockey team lost in three matches by just one goal margin. Zaman acknowledged that poor PC execution was a key issue for Pakistan and said the team is working hard to improve this aspect. He noted that Sufyan, the team’s main PC specialist, might have been fatigued from playing too many matches recently, which led to his rest during the first phase of training camp.

Along with Sufyan, players like Abu Bakar, Abdul Rehman, and Ammad Butt are being trained to improve their drag flicking skills. Zaman pointed out that earning 28 PCs against a strong team like Germany was a significant achievement, highlighting Pakistan’s attacking play. However, poor execution on those PCs prevented the team from scoring goals.

The tournament will feature eight teams: France, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, and Wales. The winners will qualify for the 2025-26 FIH Hockey Pro League. Pakistan is placed in Pool B, alongside New Zealand, Malaysia, and Japan.

Pool A includes France, South Africa, Korea, and Wales. The top two teams from each pool will advance to the semifinals. In the second phase of training, which is set to begin in the first week of May, the focus will be on improving the execution of PCs, with three to four players being prepared for this role. The second phase will also include three practice matches against the Pakistan junior hockey team to provide match experience to the senior players.