Electrifying Pakistan shock Spain

kuala lumpur: intermittent but electrifying. that was pakistan as they battled strong contenders spain to stay afloat in the 10th men’s world cup hockey tournament. and they managed to sight that proverbial ray of hope at the end of the tunnel through a couple of super strikes within the space of seven minutes at the fag end of the contest. with this win pakistan, bidding for a record fifth triumph, have now gathered 12 points from six matches.they are now placed third on the league ladder. but it is indeed going to be tough for them. for later, germany prevailed over defending champions holland by a solitary goal to displace their rivals at the top with 15 points from six matches. the dutch have 13 from six. the last of the league matches will be played on tuesday with pakistan taking on germany, holland playing south africa and argentina clashing with spain. pakistan will have to win by a three-goal margin to shunt out the germans, given that the dutch should put it across south africa. argentina have the most uphill task, needing to beat spain by a whopping eight goal margin. pakistan went into the match needing nothing but a win to remain in contention. they held a slight edge in what was a scrappy first half which saw a number of players on both sides being cautioned. however, on the few occasions that the pakistanis did manage to break through, including three penalty corners, spanish goalkeeper bernardino herrera proved to be a stumbling block. he bravely put his body forward to thwart sohail abbas’ ferocious dra-flicks from penalty corners, the third attempt striking him in the stomach and leaving him writhing in pain on the call of half-time. at the other end, spain did little to spread panic in the pakistani defense. they earned two penalty corners which proved abortive. they had just a couple of good glimpses, shots at the pakistani goal. but like his counterpart, pakistan’s muhammad qasim was unbeatable, coming up with brilliant saves off pol amat and eduard tubau. the second half, however, saw pakistan make an eager and assertive start. they were hustling and bustling to good effect in midfield and there was sufficient cohesion upfront. but they had to wait till the hour for the kick-start they so badly needed, and deserved. ali raza came up with a sizzling drive from their fifth penalty corner whizzing to the baords. that spurred the pakistanis into pressing forward with more zest. and within seven minutes, they consolidated their position. it was a superb move, the passes precise, the combinations classic. and when skipper muhamad sarwar broke through down the inside right channel and hit a square pass, it was so perfect that atif bashir was left with only the simple task of tapping the ball home. the spanish armada was well and truly rocked. the germans and dutch engaged themselves in a fast and furious contest. the exchanges in the first half were especially sharp with both sides giving little away. they took the breather without any damage. but the tempo, the rhythm of both sides seemed to slide in the second stanza. but midway through the second half, bjorn michele gave meaning to the slight edge the germans had gained when he effected a powerful flick from a penalty corner bring down the dutch citadel. earlier, argentina, the dark horse in this group also stayed on course to snatch a surprise slot in the semi-finals when they easily accounted for new zealand 3-1. though the kiwis, quickly recovered from an early setback and took a hold of the proceedings, the argentinians gradually got back into the match and then sailed out smoothly. argentina’s penalty corner ace jorge lombi put his side ahead early with a great effort in the third minute. but new zealand struck back nine minutes later also from a penalty corner through phillip burrows. and after darren smith put argentina ahead a second time in the 31st minute, the south americans were in control. blair hopping added one more in the 66th minute to close out the match.