Defeat in Asian Games semis: We missed chances against Japan, says Sardar

KARACHI: Pakistan manager Hasan Sardar said on Friday the defeat against Japan in the semi-final was a result of forwards’ failure to score and the decision not to award a penalty stroke to Pakistan.

Talking to ‘The News’ from Jakarta, he said that the team did not play well in the first quarter and so the Japanese were able to score. “But in the second and third quarters we did well and most of the time the game was played in Japan’s territory. But we failed to score. At the same time penalty corner strikers also failed. It was a bad day for us,” he added.

He said that Pakistan scored 45 goals in the event and conceded only two, “but still we could not reach the final, which is very unfortunate”.

Sardar said the Japanese team played well. “They did very tight marking of our players and stopped a number of attacks,” he added.

He said the decision of taking back the penalty stroke awarded to Pakistan through third umpire proved detrimental to Pakistan.

Interestingly, this is the first time that neither Pakistan nor India is in the final of

Asian Games.

The archrivals will fight for the bronze medal in the match for the third position. Sardar was optimistic about the match against India. “We will go all out against them and do our best to win the match. They have some edge on us as they are ranked fifth.

The Indians know us and we know them. Both teams very well know each others’ weaknesses or strengths,” he added.