Hockey World Cup: Pakistan face Belgium today in do-or-die clash

KARACHI: Pakistan face Belgium in their do-or-die, crossover match of the Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar, India, on Tuesday (today).

In the group stage, Pakistan lost two matches and drew one. Pakistan manager Hasan Sardar, while talking to ‘The News’ from India, expressed hope that the Green-shirts would play better. He said the Green-shirts were capable of beating Belgium.

He admitted that Pakistan played very poorly in the last two quarters against Holland, due to which they lost by 5-1. He said that Germany were a powerful side. “We put up a fight against them. The match against Malaysia unfortunately ended in a draw although we had taken the lead.

“We have nothing to lose, so we will go all out against Belgium. We gave them tough time in Champions Trophy,” he said. “The players know that this is the last chance to stay in the World Cup. They need to give the best performance of their life,” the manager said.

He said Pakistan would play attacking game. The Green-shirts scored only two goals in their three group matches, one against Malaysia and one against Holland. The defenders played relatively well against Germany and Malaysia, not allowing them to score many goals, due to which Pakistan managed to qualify for the crossover match.

They conceded seven goals in the three matches. Their forwards failed to deliver even average performances and their PC execution was extremely poor. Belgium are ranked third in the world and are the European champions. The match will start at 4:45pm.