By Shahid Khan
Pakistan defeated Japan 3-2 to register their first victory in the ongoing FIH Men’s Nations Cup in Kuala Lumpur.
In the must win match, after Greenshirts had played a 3-3 draw against the hosts on the previous day, Ghazanfar Ali gave an early lead in the first quarter. He latched on a defensive error by the Japanese defender and unleashed an electrifying reverse stick strike.
However, within a minute against the run of play, Japan’s Kazumasa Matsumoto scored to level the field 1-1. Koji Yamasaki scored Japan’s second goal of the match within two minutes, bringing the score to 2-1.
The second quarter remained goalless before Rana Waheed Ashraf deflected a long-range strike into the circle in the third quarter to level the score at 2-2.
Pakistan attacks were in the ascendency as they looked for the winner. Despite forcing penalty corners which resulted in easy saves for the Japanese goalkeeper they were also guilty of miss trapping on two occasions.
Eventually with 8 minutes remaining Sufyan Khan was able to strike a thunderous level shot to hand Greenshirts 3-2 victory.
Pakistan’s last pool match will be against top of the table New Zealand team on Wednesday.
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