Pakistan take on Spain in hockey opener

Pakistan during a training session. -Photo by AFP

KARACHI: Pakistan opened their hockey campaign at the London Olympics against Spain and the match was goalless at half-time.

Pakistan’s former captain Salman Akbar previews the match here.

In the build-up to the Olympics, Pakistan lost their warm-up matches to Belgium (2-0) and to Netherlands (5-1).

However, coach Khawaja Junaid claimed the team had learnt from their mistakes during the warm-up matches, adding the boys were fit and gradually coming in the right shape for the Olympics.

“A good start against Spain will be a big boost for the boys. We will try to go all out to win this opening match,” Junaid said.

Squad:

Imran Shah, Mohammad Irfan, Sohail Abbas (captain), Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Rizwan Jr, Fareed Ahmed, Rashid Mahmood, Mohammad Tousiq, Waseem Ahmed, Mohammad Waqas (vice-captain), Shafqat Rasool, Abdul Haseem Khan, Mohammad Rizwan Senior, Mohammad Umar Bhutta, Shakeel Abbasi, Rehan Butt.

Umpire: Simon Taylor