Dutch coach aims for Pakistan hockey revival

KARACHI: Pakistan’s new hockey coach Michel van den Heuvel on Friday said he had no worries about the country’s security situation and urged fans to be patient as the team rebuilds after a disastrous World Cup.

Dutchman Van den Heuvel, 46, guided the Netherlands to a bronze medal finish in the 12-nation World Cup held in February-March in India, where Pakistan finished bottom — their worst-ever performance at international level.

The Delhi flop was the culmination of a continuous slide for Pakistan, winners of three Olympic and four world titles.

Pakistan has been a no-go area for foreign teams because of the ongoing battle between the army and a Taliban insurgency.

The country’s chances of bringing international teams back suffered a terrible blow when the Sri Lankan cricket team bus was attacked in Lahore in March last year, injuring seven players besides killing eight people.

Van den Heuvel, hired last week until the London Olympics in 2012, set about his task without any fears.

“When they called me (to become Pakistan coach), I wanted to have a feel and when I came, initially it felt like a jail in Lahore, but gradually it eased and now I am here in Karachi and see no security problems,” Van den Heuvel told a press conference.

Pakistan’s last major title came in the World Cup in Australia in 1994, but Van den Heuvel urged the normally impatient Pakistan fans to wait for the revival.

“The fans must understand it’s not an easy way to the top, Pakistan is not the only country striving to go back to the top and a revival is not done in three months,” he said.

“Its a continued process, we will have victories and losses, as a normal process but the focus will not only be on winning, the main focus will be to learn to grow as a team,” said Van den Heuvel.

“I saw the Pakistan team in Qatar (in February) where the Netherlands played in two games with them and they were impressive. In India, I watched them play against India and Pakistani players looked exhausted and over-trained.”

The new coach’s first task will be a tour of Europe, where Pakistan play four matches against Spain and two against his former team, the Netherlands.

Pakistan then will feature in October’s Commonwealth Games in New Delhi before taking part in the Asian Games in China a month later.

“Asian Games is a tough tournament with South Korea and India, who both are progressing well. India is shaping well with a Spanish coach, so we have to show a gradual improvement,” said the new coach.

“As a young boy I watched Pakistan play, and they were not normal players because they use to fly and now my aim is to make this beautiful green team fly again and achieve better results in the 2012 Olympics.”