Netherlands subdue three-time Olympic champions Pakistan to seal 2020 Olympic berth
The Netherlands left Pakistan bruised and battered in the second-leg of the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2019 (Men) and sealed their place at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 in Japan.
Pakistan won Olympic golds in 1960, 1968 and 1984 but they have fallen on hard times since claiming bronze at the 1992 Games in Barcelona. They now have to build again towards the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Pakistan came into the game hopeful and optimistic. The Netherlands left them bruised and battered in the second-leg of the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2019 (Men) to seal their place at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 in Japan.
A day after stunning the hosts with a 4-4 draw in the first leg of their Olympic qualifier, Pakistan came crashing down back to earth as the Netherlands thrashed them 6-1 to seal a 10-5 aggregate victory and punch their tickets to Tokyo for next year’s Games.
The Dutch were red hot on Sunday, racing to a 4-nil lead at halftime with Mink van der Weerden scoring twice and Bjorn Kellerman and Mirco Pruijser both firing home glorious backhand efforts.
Terrance Pieters and Jip Janssen then scored in the space of four minutes in the third quarter to effectively end the contest altogether before Rizwan Ali’s drag-flick conversion gave Pakistan a consolation goal seven minutes from time.
“It is a bad day, we have missed out on the Olympics,” said Pakistan’s Rashid Mehmood, as the three-time Olympic champions missed out on reaching the Games for a second successive time.
“We couldn’t make it [happen] in the second game. The Dutch team defended very well in the second leg game and we didn’t start very well, we made a lot of mistakes. In the first half they took advantage of that. We couldn’t match their pace in the first half.” Rashid said.
Kellerman had scored with a sensational backhand strike on Saturday and he was at it again on Sunday. Robbert Kemperman cut in from the right before finding Kellerman on the left, who smashed a stunning backhand strike into the bottom right corner from an ever-narrowing angle to give the Netherlands a ninth-minute lead.
Van der Weerden, who scored twice on Saturday including the last-gasp leveller for the Dutch, doubled their advantage in the 17th, firing in a penalty stroke after after a rapid attack was cynically cut short by the Pakistani defense.
It was 3-0 five minutes later with Pruijser breaking into the circle and finishing clinically before Van der Weerden’s powerful drag-flick all but extinguished Pakistan’s hopes in the 28th.
“I think the tempo we played today was a lot better, and I think that made the difference,” Van der Weerden said.
“Our tempo on the ball was a lot better, there was a lot more energy and that is a big difference. It means a lot [to qualify for the Olympics]. It is the event that we all play for. Winning really means a lot.” Van der Weerden further added.
Pakistan started brightly in the second half but failed to test the Dutch defense. Pieters struck a field goal in the 39th and it was soon followed by Janssen’s penalty corner conversion. Rizwan got Pakistan on the scoresheet but it was too little, too late.
Pakistan’s performance was totally opposite to the one 24 hours earlier when they dominated the Dutch team but ended the game tied 4-4 heading into the deciding game.
