AMSTERDAM: Pakistan entered the game hopefully and optimistically. The Netherlands left them bruised and mistreated.
A day after stunning the hosts with a 4-4 draw in the first leg of their Olympic qualification, Pakistan fell to the ground on Sunday when the Netherlands beat them 6-1 to seal a 10-5 aggregate victory and hit your tickets to Tokyo for the Games next year.
Pakistan hockey: from champions to qualifiers
The Dutch were devastating on Sunday, running to a 4-0 lead at halftime with Mink van der Weerden scoring twice and Bjorn Kellerman and Mirco Pruijser firing glorious efforts backwards.
Terrance Pieters and Jip Janssen then scored in the space of four minutes in the third quarter to effectively finish the competition before the drag-and-move conversion of Rizwan Ali gave Pakistan a consolation goal seven minutes from time.
"It's a bad day, we missed the Olympic Games," said Rashid Mehmood of Pakistan, as the three-time Olympic champions could not reach the Games for the second time in a row.
"We couldn't do it [happen] in the second game The Dutch team defended themselves very well in today's game and we did not start very well, we made many mistakes. In the first half they took advantage of that. We couldn't match his pace in the first half. "
Kellerman scored with a sensational blow up on Saturday and did it again on Sunday. Robbert Kemperman intervened from the right before finding Kellerman on the left, who crushed an impressive backhand stroke in the lower right corner from an increasingly narrow angle to give Holland a ninth minute lead.
Van der Weerden, who scored twice on Saturday, including the last leveler for the Dutch, doubled his lead in 17, firing on a penalty stroke after a quick attack was cynically interrupted by the Pakistani defense.
It was 3-0 five minutes later with Pruijser entering the circle and finishing clinically before the powerful Van der Weerden movie ended Pakistan's hopes for 28.
"I think the pace we played today was much better, and I think that made a difference," said Van der Weerden. “Our pace in the ball was much better, there was much more energy and that is a big difference. It means a lot [to qualify for the Olympics]. It is the event we all play for. Winning really means a lot. "
Pakistan started brilliantly in the second half but could not prove the Dutch defense. Pieters scored a field goal in 39 and was soon followed by the conversion of Janssen's short corner. Rizwan got Pakistan on the record, but it was too little, too late.
OPPOSITE PERFORMANCE
Pakistan's performance was totally the opposite of 24 hours earlier.
The Netherlands had started the draw as strong favorites, but Pakistan took the lead on Saturday in the fifth minute through a drag by Mubashar Ali.
Van der Weerden reached the Dutch level when he hit a penalty in the 20th minute and Kellerman scored in the next minute to give the hosts the advantage.
The conversion of Ali Ghazanfar's short corner in the 25th minute saw the teams enter the half-time tied 2-2.
Pakistan hit the accelerator in the second half and in the 38th minute, Rizwan scored from a short corner to give Pakistan the lead, but Kepperman's 52nd field goal leveled the game again.
Mubashar Ali, although he had marked the winner for Pakistan in the 58th, but Van der Weerden's film snatched a draw for the Dutch.
However, the result was a big boost for Pakistan, which had entered the game after 6-1 and 6-2 blows at the hands of Germany in their preparation matches for the Olympic qualifier.
However, unfortunately for them, they could not take that form in the second game.
Pakistan won the Olympic golds in 1960, 1968 and 1984, but they have recently fallen on hard times and have not won medals since they won bronze at the 1992 Games in Barcelona. Now they have to build again towards the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Published on Dawn, October 28, 2019
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1513289/netherlands-crush-pakistans-olympic-dreams-with-6-1-demolition