KARACHI: Pakistan ended their final pre-Olympic training camp in the English town of Cannock on a high when they blanked a combined XI 5-0 in a practice game on Thursday evening.
Following 4-1 and 4-2 wins over Cannock and Wales respectively earlier this week, the Pakistanis went on an all out attack to thrash their rivals for yet another win ahead of next week’s Olympic Games in London.
The good news for Pakistan was that most of their leading stars were among the goal-scorers in the match that was played against a side with players from Wales and several leading English clubs.
Pakistan captain Sohail Abbas scored two goals while former skippers Rehan Butt and Shakeel Abbasi – both returning to national duty – and Shafqat Rasool scored a goal each.
“It was a good match and our boys players according to the plan,” Khawaja Junaid, Pakistan’s coach, told ‘The News’ in a telephonic conversation from Cannock. “It was good to see them converting most of the scoring chances that came their way. Now we are looking forward to the final two practice games in London before the Olympics,” he added.
Pakistan have been camping in Cannock since July 12 but will now leave for London on Sunday (tomorrow) to move into the Olympic Village. They will resume their training sessions at the Riverbank Arena in the Olympic Park in East London before playing back-to-back practice matches against Belgium (July 24) and Netherlands (July 26).
Both Belgium and Netherlands are not in Pakistan’s pool that includes Australia, Spain, Great Britain, Argentina and South Africa. The Dutch and Belgians are bracketed in Group B with defending champions Germany, Korea, New Zealand and India.
Pakistan will play their opening match of London 2012 on July 30 against Spain. The Greenshirts have been unable to impress much against the Spaniards in recent times. In their last clash, Spain thrashed Pakistan 4-2 at the 2011 Champions Trophy in New Zealand last December.
