LAHORE - Hosts Netherlands on Sunday trounced former champions Pakistan 6-1 in the second-leg of the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2019 (Men) and sealed their place at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 in Japan.
The Netherlands not only bounced back from Saturday’s surprise 4-4 draw but also changed their game plan and played aggressive hockey to outclass Pakistan 6-1 to book berth in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 with 10-5 triumph on aggregate. With this victory, they also deprived three-times Olympic gold medallists of Olympic ticket.
From Netherlands, dragflicker Mink van der Weerden and captain Bjorn Kellerman emerged as top scorers with a brace each while Terrance Pieters and Jip Janssen contributed with one goal apiece. From Pakistan, Rizwan Ali struck a consolation goal in the 53rd minute.
Talking to media after the match, Pakistan’s Rashid Mehmood said: Rashid Mehmood (PAK): “It is a bad day, we have missed out on the Olympics.
We couldn’t make it [happen] in the second game. The Dutch team defended very well in the game today and we didn’t start very well, we made a lot of mistakes. In the first half they took advantage of that. We couldn’t match their pace in the first half.”
The world No 3 side, Netherlands, started the match well and took 1-0 lead in the 9th minute through an impressive goal by Bjorn Kellerman. Mink van der Weerden then doubled the lead in the 17th minute which was further stretched to 3-0 in the 22nd minute, when hosts captain Billy Baker netted an impressive goal. Mink van der Weerden then converted from the spot to make it 4-0 in the 29th minute.
Terrance Pieters unleashed a fierce strike into the top right corner to further enhance the hosts lead to 5-0 in the 39th minute while in the 43rd minute, Jip Janssen converted a penalty corner to make it 6-0, as the goals aggregate read 10-4. In the final quarter, Pakistan played well and managed to score a consolation goal through Rizwan Ali in the 53rd minute, but it was too late for the visitors.
