Weight of Expectation

Weight of expectations, whether personal or from fans, can cause crazy things to happen. Sometimes it can create a groundswell beyond the norm or sink a team to into an abyss. It seems that the latter is to blame for the Pakistani hockey team's recent disastrous showings, first at the recent World Cup and now at the Commonwealth Games, both held in India, home of their arch rivals.

Pakistan has always done well in field hockey, and are expected by the legion of screaming fans to compete well at the highest level. Their 12th-place finish at the World Cup created huge consternation in sport-mad Pakistan. It looks like this trend has continued in a very ill-tempered match against South Africa, where both teams had failed to qualify for the semi-finals.

South Africa fought back to beat 10-man Pakistan with a golden goal to finish fifth in the Commonwealth Games men's hockey competition. With the scores tied 2-2 at full time, Justin Reid scored the decisive goal in extra-time after Pakistan were reduced to ten men following a red card to Muhammad Irfan (shown above) in the 58th minute. Irfan was punished for bringing down South Africa's Marvin Harper inside the "D".

It was veteran striker Rehann Butt who put Pakistan ahead, scoring field goals in the 28th and 52nd minutes. Trailing 2-0, South Africa fought back to level the scores with Reid converting a penalty-corner in the 55th and Gareth Carr in the 62nd. The seocnd goal was scored while Pakistan was down a man after the red card. It went from bad to worse when Irfan was banned for three matches for hitting an opponent with his stick, which drew an angry reaction from the South Africans who believed the tackle was deliberate and Irfan aimed for his opponents head. But try telling the Pakistani fans that they should let up on their national team; somehow I think that it simply won't happen.