‘We played well as we did not lose points’ Hockey team’s captain Umar

BIRMINGHAM: Pakistan men’s hockey team captain Umar Bhutta endorsed the green jerseys’ performance in their opening Commonwealth Games match against South Africa.

Bhutta, while speaking to this reporter here, endorsed Pakistan’s 2-2 draw against South Africa and stated that the national team did well as they did not drop any points, while also stating that the team will go full force in their match against New Zealand.

“The national hockey team played well against South Africa.

The game ended in a draw, so we didn’t lose any points,” said Bhutta.

“We will do our best in the second match against New Zealand and we will win the match to reach the semi-finals,” he said.

National hockey team head coach Siegfried Aikman, on the other hand, remained hopeful of overcoming the mistakes made in the first match and facing New Zealand in high spirits.

“We will work on the mistakes made in the first game and we will do our best in the next game. Our dribbling is good, but we couldn’t get the penalty corner so we have to work on that,” Aikman said.

“The Pakistani players are hungry to score goals and they are a really good team,” he concluded.

It is pertinent to mention here that Afraz Hakeem’s late goal in the final moments of the game allowed the Green Shirts to secure a 2-2 draw against South Africa. Rizwan Ali was the other scorer, scoring in the first quarter.

READ: Afraz strikes late, Pakistan secures draw against South Africa in CWG