Different strategy worked: Zeeshan

Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI: Pakistan approached its crucial hockey World Cup game against Spain with a different strategy and it paid off, said captain Zeeshan Ashraf here on Tuesday.

“After the loss to India, we made a lot of effort. We adopted a different strategy of controlling the midfield and it worked,” Zeeshan said after his team’s 2-1 victory.

Curbing its normal attacking approach was the reason behind Pakistan not getting enough penalty corners in the match. “We wanted to slow the game down and that is why we did not attack on both sides,” Zeeshan said.

Despite the loss, Spain coach Martin Dani said the match against Pakistan would help his side in its next fixture against India. “They play a similar type of hockey and this would be a reference for us,” he said.

Not convincing

England captain Barry Middleton agreed that after the brilliant performance against Australia, his team’s 6-4 win against South Africa was not a convincing one.

“We played well only in the second half. South Africa is a good team and they can score goals against most teams,” Middleton said, adding that his side missed the crowd support it had in the match against the Aussies.

The English skipper said his team’s next outing against Pakistan would be a tough one. “The conditions suit them better and it would not be a walkover,” he said.

South African coach Gregg Clark admitted that his team lost focus after half-time.

“In a four to five minute period, we conceded three goals and it made the difference. Otherwise, we competed very well,” he said.