KARACHI: Pakistan hockey team is playing well in the ongoing Asian Games in South Korea but interestingly their star forward Shakeel Abbasi has failed to score a single goal in the event so far. Pakistan have reached the semi-finals stage by scoring 26 goals and they have conceded only one goal. Pakistan play their semi-final against Malaysia on Tuesday (today). Abbasi is the foremost forward of the Green-shirts who has the ability to shatter the defence of any team and create chances of scoring goals but surprisingly he has failed to score any goal so far, even against minnows Oman and Sri Lanka. However, chief coach Shahnaz Sheikh says he is not off-colour. He insists that Abbasi is playing well and creating chances and openings for the other forwards. “When he himself tries to score, the opponents foil his attempts with good display of defensive hockey,” he said while talking to ‘The News’ from Incheon, South Korea. He said that Abbasi was playing as a schemer in this tournament “so that we create maximum chances. He is not playing only as the centre forward. He is also playing as left in and left out.” Shahnaz said the match against Malaysia would be a do-or-die encounter and in this match he would play as the centre forward. He said that Abbasi was tightly marked by the opponents. But he failed to give a solid reason for Abbasi’s failure to score even against the weaker sides. He expressed the hope that in the semi-final, Abbasi would not only create chances for others, but would also score himself. The Malaysians traditionally play defensive hockey and try to get maximum penalty corners. Thus, Abbasi’s position will be crucial in this match. He has been among the leading forwards of the world in the recent years, having played more than 200 international matches and scored more than 100 goals.
