Pakistan shocked world champions Germany, WINS" Azlan Shah hockey. A game to watch!

[Shah Khan]

Pakistan win Azlan Shah hockey, Shocks Germany
March 30, 2003 22:10 IST
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Match Pics:
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Pakistan shocked world champions Germany 1-0 to win the Sultan Azlan Shah five-nation field hockey tournament in Malaysia's northern city of Ipoh on Sunday.

Shabbir Hussain took advantage of a lapse in concentration among the German defenders to score in the 62nd minute of the final, played in .

The Germans, who were the defending champions and unbeaten in earlier matches of this annual tournament, had several golden opportunities, but tight defensive play by Pakistan prevented them from scoring.

For Pakistan, which had won the title previously in 2000, today's win was also sweet revenge after losing to Germany 3-4 in a preliminary match a week ago.

Pakistan's penalty-corner specialist Sohail Abbas was named player of the tournament, and Germany's Christopher Zeller the most promising player.

In the third-fourth play-off, New Zealand beat South Korea 3-2 after a strong performance in the second-half.

Hayden Shaw converted a penalty for the Kiwis in the 6th minute before Lee Jung Seon scored two goals for the Koreans in similar fashion in the 9th and 17th minutes.

New Zealand went on to score through Phillip Burrows in the 42nd minute and Bevan Hari in the 64th minute.

Hosts Malaysia finished last in the tournament after losing all four of its matches in the five-team tournament.
http://www.rediff.com/sports/2003/mar/30hock1.htm

[Shah Khan]

Shabbir's Goal Helps Pakistan To Win Sultan Azlan Shah Tourney

IPOH, March 30 (Bernama) -- Shabbir Hussain scored the only goal of the game enroute to Pakistan's triumph over defending champions Germany in the final of the 12th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament here Sunday.

After a goalless first half, Shabbir made no mistake in converting the best chance he got in the game to help Pakistan, champions here in 2000, to beat world champions Germany at the Azlan Shah Stadium.

Both teams produced a scintillating show and created numerous goalmouth chances but Pakistan were the luckier side. Today's win was also sweet revenge for Pakistan as they had lost to Germany 3-4 in a preliminary match last Sunday.

After 10 minutes, Christopher Zeller made a solo effort and weaved his way past several Pakistani defenders before cracking a shot which was denied by Pakistani goalkeeper, Ahmed Alam.

A minute later Ahmed blocked Max Landshut's penalty corner attempt.

Ahmed again proved to be a stumbling block to the Germans a minute later and this time he stopped an attempt by Phillpp Zeller.

Pakistan then switched into attack mode but Germany goalkeeper, Clemens Arnold, denied them four consecutive times within a space of minutes. Out of the four attempts, three were from penalty corner hits.

Zeller got the best chance to open the scoring in the 24th minute when he only needed to beat Ahmed but his shot went wide.

Despite the fast attacking game from both teams and several golden opportunities to score, tight defensive play by the defenders at the opposite ends forced the match to remain goalless in the first half.

After the breather, both sides maintained their trademark good passing and tight marking play.

However a lapse of concentration among the German defenders in the 62nd minute saw Shabbir saw beating Arnold.

Germany tried desperately to get the equaliser and the Pakistani defenders managed to narrow down any scoring range which became available to the Germans. The game ended with victory going to Pakistan.

Pakistan also received the Fairplay Award and their penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas was named as Player Of The Tournament.

Germany's Christoper Zeller was named as the tournament's Most Promising Player in the tournament while teammate Clemens Arnold, the Man Of The Match.

The Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah, gave away the medals and trophy.
-- BERNAMA
http://www.bernama.com.my/B2002/news...ports/sp3003_4

[Shah Khan]

Hockey/Azlan Shah Cup: Germany should clinch the Cup
Mustapha Kamaruddin


The Germans, who won the Cup in 2001 when the tournament was last held, move like a well-oiled machine with their precision passes troubling their opponents.

This was evident when they won all four of their preliminary round matches to book a place in the final in style.

The Germans beat Pakistan (4-3), South Korea (2-0), Malaysia (2-1) and New Zealand (3-2).

The seniors in the German side like goalkeeper Clemens Arnold, captain Philipp Crone, Christoph Bechmann and Sascha Reinelt are set to spark the fire in the team against the speedy and skilful Pakistanis.

Germany have also impressive youngsters like Max Landshut, Niklas Meinert and Timo Wess to get things going in their favour.

"Our youngsters have done well. They are improving by the day and I expect them to do even better in the final," said Germany's coach Bernhard Peters.

"We will have to perform better to retain the title because Pakistan have a set of speedy and skilful forwards," he added.

He is especially wary of in-form Khasif Jawad and Nadeem Mohammad.

"We have to restrict their penalty corner ace Sohail Abbas too from delivering those powerful flicks.

"But we are strong when it comes to counter attacks and this is one way we can get the better of the Pakistanis," said Peters.

"It will certainly be a good challenge for us, especially our youngsters, to stop Pakistan who will be out to avenge their 4-3 loss to us in the preliminary round." Pakistan will have to raise their game after struggling to beat South Korea 1-0 in their last preliminary round match on Friday.

"I am confident my players will play better after what transpired against South Korea," said Pakistan coach Shahnaz Sheikh.

"This is the final. My players want revenge after being beaten 4-3 in the preliminary round where we matched the Germans but were rather unlucky to have lost," he said.

"Matches between Germany and us have always been close and it should be no different this time." Shahnaz promises something special as they go for the kill against Germany.
http://www.emedia.com.my/Current_New...20030330092755

[Shah Khan]

PHF chief warns players against complacency
By Khalid Hussain

KARACHI: Pakistan's hockey boss General Mohammad Aziz Khan warned against complacency as his team, the newly-crowned Azlan Shah Cup champions, were accorded a tumultuous welcome on its arrival from Kuala Lumpur here on Tuesday night.

"Its just a beginning of what should be a series of victories," the General told the team players, officials and a large group of sports scribes present at the Quaid-e-Azam International Airport.

The Pakistani squad returned home from Malaysia after winning the 2003 Azlan Shah Cup title in Ipoh where they overcame world champions and holders Germany 1-0 in the final.

The victory gave Pakistan their first international hockey title after the 2000 Azlan Shah Cup in Kuala Lumpur.

The success-starved national hockey community was quick to hail the victory and the spirit was pretty much evident during the grand reception given to the Pakistani players soon after it landed in Karachi.

Hundreds of fans, former stars and junior players and officials greeted the team at the airport with slogans of "Pakistan zindabad".

With such an electrifying atmosphere one had the feeling as if the Pakistanis were home with the Olympic title in their baggage.

That was precisely the reason why General Aziz made it clear that though the PHF officials were pleased with the team's performance, they would not like the players or the national hockey community to get carried away.

"We have to keep our focus on bigger tasks. We are preparing the team for the Olympics which is our main target. Then there is (this year's) Champions Trophy which is a very tough tournament. We have to continue this winning spree in these events like we used to do in the past."

To a question, the PHF boss refrained from making any announcement regarding the much-anticipated cash rewards for the victorious team saying that incentives will come the players' way but only if they continue doing well in bigger events.

The main reason why the General was non-committal regarding the rewards is the fact that Pakistan's recent track record has been very inconsistent. They won the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup titles in 1999 and 2000 but fared poorly in most of the more important events after those victories.

However, the General was quick to make it clear that the PHF and the team's fans acknowledged the title-winning performance and were now confident of Pakistan's success in the future.

"Our boys really played very well. Everybody who watched the final was very proud of the team. I even got a call from the President who was very thrilled with our team's showing. That shows that people still care about hockey and now its up to the players to continue doing well."

General Aziz gave a vote of confidence to the team players and management assuring that the process of preparing the team for the Olympics will continue without any stumbling blocks.

Utility forward Nadeem ND who replaced Mohammad Sarwar as the team skipper for the tour said that there was no extra-pressure on him during the tournament.

"All the players, seniors and juniors, supported me which was the biggest reason why we have managed to win the Cup," said Nadeem.

Head coach Shahnaz Sheikh was extremely happy with the performance of his boys and said that if given ample time the team will surely impress in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Team manager Col (retd) Shahid Jafri, who made his debut in Ipoh, was all praise for the conduct of the players saying that each and every one of them was committed and worked really hard during the event.

Also joining in the chorus of praise was the representative from the tour's official sponsors - Bank Al-Falah. "We are very happy that our team did well in the tournament and promise to continue supporting hockey in the future," commented Sirajuddin Aziz, Executive Incharge of the Bank.

Former skipper Ahmed Alam who was outstanding in his role as the team's goal-keeper said that the nation should pray for the success of the side in its future assignments.

http://jang.com.pk/thenews/apr2003-d.../sports/s9.htm