France and Pakistan have progressed to the semi-finals of the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup Poland 2023/24 along with New Zealand after a hard-fought 11-goal contest.
France finished first in Pool B, followed by Pakistan. Malaysia defeated Canada in the first match of the day to finish third.
Pakistan 5-6 France
France beat Pakistan 5-6 in a close match to take the lead in Pool B with three straight wins. The Olympic hosts were on the offensive from the start, ready to exploit weaknesses in Pakistan’s defence. It was Victor Charlet who broke the deadlock in the seventh minute. A minute before the end of the first quarter, Elliot Carty passed to Blaise Rogier, who fired a rocket-like shot that bounced off the crossbar. With the defence failing to link up, Gaspard Baumgarten made it 0-3 seven minutes before the end of the first half. Two minutes later, Charlet scored his second, again from a penalty corner.
Pakistan are one of the most exciting teams in attack, despite their defensive weaknesses. One such attempt in the 26th minute led to a penalty kick, which Abu Mahmood easily converted. Suddenly, France were no longer as organised as before and were frustrated by Pakistan. In the 29th minute, Sufian Khan’s first-time shot from a penalty corner was saved and Murtaza Yaqob scored from the rebound.
The third quarter was again dominated by France, with Charlet completing his hat-trick with an emphatic goal from a penalty corner in the 39th minute. Pakistan hit back in the first minute of the final quarter when Ashraf Rana Waheed converted a superb pass from distance by Ahmad Butt. Pakistan continued to threaten France, with Butt playing some excellent play on his way to a fourth goal before Rehman Abdul made it 4-5 in the 52nd minute.
Pakistan dominated France and in the 56th minute, after Mahmood’s initial shot was saved, Hannan Shahid reacted quickly to make it 5-5 from a penalty corner. Everyone thought the turn was complete but Pakistan lapsed in concentration and Charlet, who had started the scoring, sealed the game with another penalty corner.
France’s Victor Charlet was heaping praise on Pakistan after the match win, saying, “There were so many goals in this game that it’s hard to put into words. We have to play well against a hockey powerhouse like Pakistan as they have many great players. They are skilled so we have to stay focused and defend well. It wasn’t our best game but we are happy with the win.”
Malaysia 4-2 Canada
Malaysia recorded their first pool win with a 4-2 victory over Canada in Gniezno. The match quickly took hold, with Fitri Sari scoring a field goal in the second minute with a powerful shot from the center of the circle. The second goal came four minutes later, when Faisal Sari made a good run down the left wing and passed to Abu Kamal Azrai, who lost his balance as he shot. A simple and beautiful penalty corner technique from Saeed Cholan gave the Speedy Tigers their third goal in the 22nd minute.
Canada began to look more aggressive in the second half and scored in the 41st minute with a powerful penalty corner kick from Roopkanwal Dhillon, but the celebration was short-lived when Muhajir Abdul Rauf’s shot was deflected off the unlucky Thomson Harris.
Malaysia tried their best but lost their cool and nearly conceded a goal for indiscipline before Mansarovar Sidhu capitalised on a 10-minute yellow card for Faris Harizan at the end of the third quarter with a deft finish in the 51st minute to seal the win for Malaysia.
Malaysia’s Marhan Jalil, who was named man of the match, said: “We played with good motivation today. We started well and had only one penalty corner. We will study the video to improve our chances of scoring goals.”
To see the current standings of the FIH Men’s Hockey Nations Cup, click here.
FIH Men’s Hockey Nations Cup – June 5, 2024
Hockey Stadium – Gniezno, (Poland)
Result: Match 13 (M)
Malaysia 4-2 Canada
Man of the match: Marhan Jalil
Referees: Titus Ngoria (KEN), Tim Bond (NZL), Munashe Mashoko (ZIM-video)
Result: Match 14 (M)
Pakistan 5-6 France
Man of the match: Victor Charlet
Referees: Eric Etzebeth (RSA), Harry Collinson (ENG), Michael Dutriou (BEL-Video)
