FIH PRO LEAGUE HOCKEY: Preparing raw players a tough challenge, says Saeed

ISLAMABAD: Saeed Khan, the newly-appointed national hockey team head coach and manager, admitted facing a tough task of preparing the team for FIH Pro League starting later this month.

Pakistan have to travel to Argentina for the first leg of Pro League’s home and away matches to be played in the Argentinean city of Cordoba before crossing over to Australia for the second leg of matches. The back-to-back matches against Argentina will be played on February 2 and 3.

“It is really a tough task now. Hockey is not same as was in last year. With the leading nine teams participation in the event now the challenge is even greater,” Saeed, who was in Paris, told ‘The News’ on telephone.

“I have been given the task to coach the team under trying circumstances. The team is shapeless with no one in a position to predict at this point of time as what would be the ultimate combination. So we will have to start all afresh,” he added.

Saeed had been under the cloud following a recent scam that saw one of the national team’s girls blaming him of harassment. The matter was resolved later after the intervention of PHF president Brig (r) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar.

Saeed’s appointment came at a time when major reshuffle is on the cards in the PHF. There is a good possibility that within next 10 days the federation would have a new president in Lt Gen (r) Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmed.

In such circumstances, the appointment of a new manager raises different doubts.

“I think the PHF managers at this point of time should have waited for the outcome of government’s meetings with some top players and provincial hockey managers.”

The Pro League offers Pakistan a chance to get back amongst the world leaders in the game.

How to get back to winning ways on a global stage has proven a frustrating conundrum for the Pakistan hockey community. The team that sits at 12th in the FIH World Rankings has three Olympic gold medals, three World Cup gold medals and three Champions Trophy gold medals but the last time the team won a major tournament was the 1994 World Cup in Sydney. Pakistan’s place among the nine teams contesting the Pro League has been under threat at times because of the difficulty in finding the team a ‘home venue’.

Pakistan will be playing home matches across Europe, Australia and South America, with the fixture list cutting excessive travel as far as possible.

Pakistan’s home matches will be played in Argentina, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Pakistan’s Pro League campaign will start in Argentina on February 2. The following day they will play a return fixture against the reigning Olympic champions. They will then cross the ocean to play Australia and New Zealand.

The campaign for the new World Champions will begin on January 19 against Spain at the Estadio Betero, Valencia and is the opening fixture of the inaugural competition.