Pak team for 5-a-side event leaves for Switzerland tomorrow

KARACHI: Olympian Rehan Butt has said that Pakistan team is fully prepared for the five-a-side FIH tournament which starts in Lausanne, Switzerland, from June 4.

“Players are enthusiastic for the event and desperately want to show their best skills to get laurels for Pakistan so that the name of the country goes up in this new version of hockey,” the head coach said while talking to ‘The News’ on Monday.

“All our training has been completed and on Tuesday (today) the training camp will be closed and the next day we will depart for Switzerland,” he added. The other teams in the tournament are Malaysia, India, Poland and Switzerland. The tournament will be played on league basis. Each team will play against every other team. The top two teams on the points table will play the final.

“Players know that Pakistan need victories and this is a good chance to show their talent in this new version of the game,” he said. “Our first goal is to qualify for the final. Then we’ll see what happens because on the day of the final the team that makes the most of the chances will win. Luck is also important,” he added.

He said that India and Malaysia would be tough opponents. “But we will not take any team easy. Poland are also playing well,” he said. Rehan said that Pakistan team would comprise 10 players, to be accompanied by him and and assistant coach Waqas Sharif.

He said that the event is part of the preparation of the first 5-a-side Hockey World Cup 2023 in Oman. “This version is fast-paced, competitive and aggressive with fewer limitations on goal scoring. Any player irrespective of the position can hit and score the goal. In the absence of penalty corners and corners, only penalty stroke opportunities are available and if the ball remains in the field the game continues in case of no scoring,” Butt said.

The match is of 20 minutes duration -– 10 minutes for each half. The toruanment will be over in two days as each team will play two matches a day.

The Green-shirts will return home on June 6. Pakistan squad: Waqar Younis (goalkeeper), Ehtesham Aslam, Aqeel Ahmed, Mohammad Murtaza Yaqoob, Tazeem-ul-Hassan (captain), Arshad Liaquat, Hassan Amin, Abuzar, Abdul Rehman, Mohammad Shahzeb.