Germany bring Pak down to earth with draw

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Sydney: An overconfident Pakistan, still riding on the heady 8-1 win over Britain, were brought down to earth by Germany as the teams played to a 1-1 draw in the Pool 'A' Olympic hockey league match on Thursday.

The tough and sturdy Germans played a hard game and the Pakistanis were in all sorts of trouble with their defence under pressure in the first session. Germany now have seven points from three outings, while Pakistan have five from as many.

It was an interesting duel as it turned out to be a clash between the Asian and European styles of hockey. If the Germans dominated the first half, it was the turn of Pakistan to dictate the game in the second.

In the fast-paced match, the Germans took the lead in the 19th minute when veteran Oliver Domke capitalised on a defensive lapse and shot home a beautiful goal.

The Germans kept up the pressure but could not get any more goals as Pakistanis fell back in numbers and defended their citadel stoutly. The former European champions raided their rivals' defence several times and the Pakistani goal came under severe, threat but managed to survive the anxious moments.

The Pakistanis made a very incisive move in the 30th minute, which resulted in a penalty corner. Their expert Sohail with a powerful scoop beat the goal-keeper and the defenders to send the ball home (1-1).

In the fourth minute of the second session, the Pakistani goal again survived when Oliver Domke's angular shot was superbly cleared by goal-keeper Alam Ahmed.

The Germans persisted with their attack, but Tibor Weissenborn twice missed chances to give his side the lead. After playing defensive for 13 minutes, the Pakistanis relaunched their attack and the game looked like opening up with the former Asian champions controlling the midfield.

It goes to the credit of solid German defence that they foiled all the rival moves while conceding only one penalty corner in the 51st minute. Goal-keeper Christopher Reitz brought off a fine save as he palmed away Abbas' scoop.

UNI