AMSTERDAM: The head coach of the Netherlands men’s hockey team Jeroen Delmee has rubbished the reports of the Pakistan Hockey Team playing against the local clubs on the Europe Tour.
After a voice statement circulated by a former Olympian, claiming that the Dutch and Belgian teams have refused to play against Pakistan and the green shirts are playing against the local club teams. The Dutch head coach came forward to rubbish the former’s accusations.
In a video statement for the Pakistani fans, the head coach of the Dutch hockey team Delmee confirmed that the national team has so far played two matches against Pakistan and I can confirm that they played against the national team of Holland.
“Last Tuesday and yesterday we played two games against Pakistan with the national team. On Tuesday, we lost 5-3 against a very young and energetic Pakistan side,” he said.
“But fortunately, we were able to turn things around for the Wednesday game and we were able to beat Pakistan 4-1 with our national team. So if you might have any questions, I can confirm that they played against the national team of Holland,” he added.
Delmee then wished the green shirts well at the Asia Cup and hoped to see them compete in the World Cup again.
I wish Pakistan all the best in preparing and developing for Asia Cup, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, and we hope to see them back to the World Cup,” he concluded.
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AMSTERDAM: The 20-members squad of the Pakistan Hockey Team has landed here for their upcoming Europe tour, rolling into action from April 26.
Following their arrival here, the team will practice for three days before their first fixture of the tour against the home side Netherlands on April 26.
The head coach of the Pakistan hockey team, Siegfried Aikman, expressed his excitement on reaching with the team here for an important tour, saying it is an opportunity for us to compete with the best teams and analyse how the team grows.
“It is exciting for us to be here in Europe and to compete against the best and it will show how we grow and we can show what we want to achieve,” he said.
“So this is an amazing start for our campaign to do well at the Asia Cup and we also aim for the World Cup participation,” he added.
Aikman further revealed his plans to assess the players’ weaknesses and the urge to rectify them.
“I need to see how they develop, want to assess their weaknesses and when we go back to Lahore, we’ll work on them so that we are well prepared for the Asia Cup,” he said.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan will take on the Netherlands in two matches, and will play one against Belgium, and three against Spain amid the upcoming Europe tour.
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LAHORE: Pakistan Junior Hockey team’s goalkeepers replaced seniors, following the visa issuance.
Amjad Ali and Mazhar Abbas, who were part of the touring squad, could not travel to the country. Both the goalkeepers have still not received their respective visas.
Junior goalkeepers, Abdullah and Waqar, selected as the replacement.
Secretary Pakistan Hockey Federation, Asif Bajwa said that we cannot take any risk.
“Amjad Ali and Mazhar Abbas, both goalkeepers, have yet to get visas. We didn’t want to take any chances, so we are sending junior goalkeepers,” he said.
Pakistan Hockey Team will be participating in the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy, scheduled to be host in Bangladesh. Pakistan will compete to defend the title.
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