srini wrote: ↑Sun Dec 09, 2018 4:49 am
Tp play with India in QF, apart from a win how many goals does Pakistan need in the match with Netherlands
They do not need anything more. A simple win will put Pakistan ahead of Netherlands in second position in group D and a match against Canada with the winner meeting us in QF. That will be the best scenario for us.
PKBasu wrote: ↑Sun Dec 09, 2018 1:11 am
If we play like we did in that fourth quarter, we should be playing Australia in the final, and it will be a close match.
We are slated to meet Australia in the SF, not final. That is why perhaps it was better not to win yesterday's match. If we had finished second in the group, we would have got Pakistan ( if they lose to Ned) in PQF, Germany in QF and then likely Argentina in SF. Looks an easier path than Netherlands and Australia.
Yes, this is an ironic outcome. Hopefully, though, we will be ready to pull off a big win in the QF whoever the opponent (Holland or Pakistan, depending on who wins their encounter today). That is vital to improving our ranking. We have not had a podium finish at a world cup or Olympics since the depleted 1980 Olympics field (in which we won the gold, in the absence of Germany, Pakistan, Holland and Australia).
To me, getting over the mental barrier of making a world cup or Olympic semifinal is the key one here. We have done it in the Champions Trophy but not in the two world-pinnacle tournaments.
Terrific fight by Malaysia against Germany. After being down 0-2 early, Malaysia have converted 3 penalty corners to make it 3-4, with 10 minutes to go in the match.
I'm marvelling at how many rule changes there have been since the the 1970s. No "bullying" at the start, rotating with the ball allowed now, hitting with the back of the stick allowed, massive back-swings allowed, no off-side, plus four quarters instead of two halves. It is almost a different game -- apart from the fact that the international version is played exclusively on astro-turf (the key change that made all the difference to India's dominance of the sport).
At one time, you needed to have 3 defenders ahead of you not to be off-side, in my time (post-1972) you had to have 2 in front of you, then in 1996 the off-side rule was eliminated altogether. So an attacker can plant himself near the goal line and hope to tap a ball in off a long pass. That is frequently the commonest "field goal", albeit one that doesn't require as much skill as used to be required for field goals pre-1996. I have vaguely noticed these things, but watching a lot of matches in succession has really brought it home to me...
Malaysia go down 3-5 to Germany, and are eliminated from the World Cup. The Pakistan-Holland match will only decide who finishes second and third between the two teams -- who have both qualified for the cross-overs, while Germany has qualified for the QF from the pool.
India have TWO drag-flickers/defenders in the coaching squad — Jugraj Singh is assistant coach, and Chris Ciriello of Australia is “analytical coach” (I find him animatedly providing coaching during all the intervals between quarters).
Pakistan are down 1-2 at half-time against the Netherlands.
But Holland have dominated the second half, up 4-1 now with another 8 minutes to play.
And it ends 5-1, after a sloppy piece of defending at the edge of the Pak circle, where a defender unnecessarily let the ball touch his feet when he was under no pressure -- and Holland duly converted the penalty corner (van Weerden).
Firstly, I'm pleased we managed to defeat Canada yesterday. It was looking like a standard India v lower ranked team...domination but no real outcome in the opposition circle and off a break away, the other team scores. Maddening malaise that we can't shake off. I was fearing the worst at the end of Q3, so to pump in 4 goals in Q4 was a very welcome change.
However, this has put us in the harder section of the draw. Holland and Australia is the most likely path to the final.
Having watched the Dutch over the past few years, I don't rate our chances too highly. They destroyed both Malaysia and Pakistan and dominated 3/4 of their match v Germany. They haven't got their PC routines working properly yet, so they have room for improvement! We'll have to pack the midfield and defend in numbers. When we have the ball, we must keep moving it around at good speed and make sure we make our circle entries count for something.
Pakistan were atrocious today. Standard Asian play which is way of out date. I can't understand why sub continental coaches are so inept. Can't they see what is wrong with their game (no midfield, no marking, slow/sloppy passes, awful selections, poor basic skills, slow/lethargic players...) yet decades go by and these teams still don't learn a thing. I thought Pakistan had made decent progress under Oltmans, but now they look as stupid as Indian teams used from 1976 till a 4 years ago. They had Aleem Bilal at the back, who is as bad as Kanwalpreet or Sandeep with his lack of basic skills. He gifted away 4 PCs today, when under very little pressure. madness to keep selecting dross like this.
I think India are streets ahead of Pakistan now, and don't make the sorry errors that other Asian teams do. We showed that we can dominate a European side like Belgium, so I'm optimistic about beating Holland in the QF. The SF against Australia is a lot tougher.
PKBasu wrote: ↑Sun Dec 09, 2018 1:08 pmrotating with the ball allowed now, hitting with the back of the stick allowed, massive back-swings allowed,
Wait, really? Maybe I should give hockey another try. I quit watching a couple of decades ago because the stop start nature of every infraction was too annoying to deal with...
Belgium is up 4-0 over Pakistan with a few minutes to play, demonstrating again that India has replaced Pakistan as the dominant Asian team by a long way. (Pakistan remained among hockey's elite 4-5 for about 20 years after India fell out of that top group; now India are back in the periphery of the top-4, while Pakistan are permanently in the second division -- among teams ranked 9-16).
If we had finished second in the group, we would have got Pakistan ( if they lose to Ned) in PQF, Germany in QF and then likely Argentina in SF. Looks an easier path than Netherlands and Australia.
