Young Pakistan enliven the crowd with a valiant comeback
Coming from behind, the young Pakistan side dished out a heartwarming show to draw their match against vulnerable Australia 5-5.
The results was not in the making if the manner by which the Pakistan side had allowed Australia to dictate terms, and post clinical goals. Pakistan trailed 1-3 at half time, and when Christopher Ciriello scored his second goal off the fourth penalty corner within five minutes from the lemon time, it clearly appeared the Pakistanis will bow down, and another drubbing was in the asking.
Thankfully, it was not to be.
To put in the manager Kwaja Junaid’s words, “his young team dispelled the belief that Pakistan plays well only the first half”.
Its actually Imran Md. the captain, who changed the course of the match with a brace of goals in the 58th and 69th minutes, thus making use of both the chances the team got.
Even as the hooter was about to come, Pakistan just made a grand attempt at the goal, the ball just missing the target.
“This is the type of hockey Pakistan should continue to play. Ten goals in the match, my young boys could score five of them against the World’s best defence which augurs well for us”, Junaid explained.
The match also witnessed tempers, definitely Australians are unlikely indisciplined team here.
Umpire Raghu Prasad had to flash two yellow cards simultaneously to Australian defender Ciriello and Rizwan – he stuck Pakistan’s first goal in the first half – three minutes before the hooter, this he did after spending moments to separate both groups from getting physically close to each other.
In the second half, before Pakistan waged successful comeback, it gifted a goal to Aussies, needlessly indulging in short back passes in their own danger zone.
An Australian forward intercepted, passed to circle where captain Grant Schbuert did the rest. This was a rank bad play from the Pakistan side.
However, the comeback was a great one, as Pakistan ran faster in the last 20 minutes, converted both the penalty corners. This aggression did not give any elbow room to hitherto marauding Australians.
Junaid said that he asked the team to go for goals in the second half without bothering about deficits in the scoreboard.
We had no other option than to go for attacking. It worked. My boys will be happy now, he said.
Whatever the strategy, the crowd certainly was a happier one to see so much goals in the scored board.
Pic Caption: Umpire Raghu Prasad intervenes and cools down the rising tempo in the match against Australia.