Well well what can I say? It’s quite hard for me to make any sense of the results. 3-3 draw against Korea!! A welcome result but should we call it another upset after our 1-4 drubbing by Britain the other day?
A team that beats Spain 2-0 (who beat England 5-0 and Australia 3-2; drew with Holland 3-3 and Korea 2-2 and lost equally badly against Germany 1-4) draws with Korea 3-3 (who beat Holland 6-2 and Australia 1-0; drew with Spain 2-2 and narrowly lost against Germany 1-2) and loses narrowly against Australia 1-2 should not be losing against Britain (who we have traditionally beaten easily in most major tournaments) or drawing with lowly-rated Malaysia (I know they have improved but we should still be able to beat them 8 or 9 times out of 10!)
It clearly shows that the problem is not mainly lack of skill or stamina but in the minds of the players. The self-belief and confidence is not there.They just don’t expect to win these days whereas previously esp. in the early-mid 80s and maybe even in early 90s they would have tried to fight their way back from difficult positions. Hence the indifferent results that we are seeing at the moment.
Germany seems to be the best team in this tournament having not lost a single game so far
v Britain 4-0
v Pak 5-2
v Spain 4-1
v Korea 2-1
v Holland 3-3
v Malaysia 3-2
But it’s not just Pakistan. Germany for instance beat Korea but could not beat Holland (who were spanked 2-6 by Korea) which shows that it all boils down to how you play as a team on the day.
Also we seem to be conceding too many goals which shows that our goal-keeper and/or defence is leaky and the problem needs to be addressed before our next major outing. Against Holland we can only pray but the fact that PAK drew with Korea (who spanked Holland 6-2) in a high scoring game gives me some hope :)
Actually Mostar your thread is not doing that bad. 222 replies already; quite unusual by GS 'International Sports' standards. This confirms that not everyone is only mad about cricket.
Like you said GA, results indicate no lack of skills but there definitely is a lack of planning. Who is the coach and manager right now? Pakistani backs have always been weak, it was our strong half backs that supported the full backs and then fed the forwards not to mention our goalies who were always top class.
Actually Mostar your thread is not doing that bad. 222 replies already; quite unusual by GS 'International Sports' standards. This confirms that not everyone is only mad about cricket.
But I would like my team to perform better and win rather than a GS thread.
Today is the penultimate day of the tournament and Pakistan have to play against the Netherlands. Pakistan is in a must win condition to qualify for the next CT.
