Pakistan coach Michel van den Huevel does not give interviews. The Dutchman perhaps last spoke to the media during the Commonwealth Games, and here the team representation in terms of public appearance has been done by manager Khawaja Junaid. Despite repeated and pointed requests for the coach to come for the post-match media briefing, he has kept himself away from the spotlight.

Therefore, it was a great opportunity to talk informally with him when Huevel was in a rare relaxed mood at the stadium. Pakistan had just lost 5-1 to Australia and while he was expectedly upset, Huevel was not too concerned about the entire scoreline. “It happens. This was our fourth match in five days, and three of them were played at 4pm here. With the high temperatures and the humidity, there is only so much the body can take. After a point, even if the mind says go, the body cannot do exactly what it wants, the legs protest. So it is not a disaster,” he said.

He may have a point. For the first 20 minutes, both teams had been at par, creating equal chances and going for attack. Australia got their first goal in the 23rd minute, Pakistan leveled through Sohail Abbas in the 28th, then Australia pumped in another in the 34th. But it was the second half where Pakistan faltered.

“We did not have a plan of action or a programme till April 1. There was complete break for four months when I was home with my family and the boys were not playing. We had a 10-day camp before the tournament. So it’s ok,” Huevel said.

Asked about the rumours circulating after the Asian Games about him resigning despite leading his team to the title in Guangzhou and with it a direct quota place for 2012 Olympics, Huevel shrugged. “I don’t know. Sometimes media makes up stories that are not true. I never had any thoughts of resigning. I just took some time at home because I had to work out several things including exploring the possibility of bringing my family to Pakistan, working out some nitty-gritties etc. That’s it,” he said.

But now he has decided to not bring his family to Pakistan. “I feel safe in Pakistan but my family will never come. It’s just something they are not comfortable with and I don’t want,” he said, adding the recent killing of Osama bin laden in Pakistan has not made him apprehensive of security. “These things keep happening, it’s part of life,” he said.

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