Last weekend saw the Dutch hockey team extinguish Pakistan’s bid of qualifying to play at the Tokyo Olympics next year.
Ranked 17th in the world, Green-shirts were not expected to pose any threat to the World’s 3rd rated team. However, the ever mercurial Pakistan team almost snatched victory in the 1st of a football-style double header to decide the team which booked their tickets for Tokyo. They took 4-3 lead (4-3) with under 2 minutes of the match remaining but were denied victory as the Dutch equalised with the last stroke of the match.
Prior to the 2nd leg to be played on the following day, I was asked on my bi-weekly sports slot on Voice of Islam (VOI) Radio that based on the result of the first match if there was a resurgence in hockey in Pakistan. I informed the listeners that the result was beyond the wildest dreams of Pakistani hockey team followers as Green-shirts had not played any international hockey for the past 18 months and had only had 6 weeks training prior to these qualifying matches. Moreover, they were hampered by their influential captain carrying an injury and also delay in getting visas for two of their selected players.
In the 2nd encounter, Pakistan’s defensive frailties were exposed as the Dutch team ran out deserved victors (6-1). Also reflecting their lack of physical fitness at the highest level.
Ironically these matches in Amsterdam were staged at the Wegener Stadium, which was also the venue for the 2nd World Cup in 1973.
By modern sporting venues, the main stadium has not changed a great deal, the major difference being the playing surface which is now artificial grass whereas in 1973 it was grass pitch.
First visit to Holland
I first ventured to The Netherlands in 1973 to watch the 2nd World Hockey which was being staged in Amstelveen, a picturesque town on the outskirts of Amsterdam.
At the time we (Fareed Ahmad and myself) travelled by train from London, Liverpool Street to Felixstowe and then by overnight ferry to Holland.
Upon disembarkation, at Hook of Holland, we were singled on account of our darker skin colour and held on the side of the gangway while all the other passengers were allowed to leave. The immigration official then went through a hefty book presumably checking our names against barred people. How times have changed.
Later in 2015, I was accompanying Zahid (my brother) on a flight to Toronto from Birmingham, at pre check-in, Zahid was told that he had to wait while the airline sought clearance for him from the US authorities. We were perplexed as our ticket had no US destination however we were informed that the airline was obliged to check US clearance (which they did in the background) even for travel to Canada only. Luckily he was granted permission to travel once they obtained the relevant clearance after the opening of the US Embassy in London.
Anyway coming back to our arrival at Holland we found Amsterdam to be a fascinating city with its extensive network of canals and trams for transportation. The railings along canals had hundreds of unlocked bicycles resting on them mostly looking alike, how the owners knew their own bikes I will never know. Bicycles which seemed to have seen many better days hurtling around on the cobblestones streets made a clack-ting sound.
In front of the railway station past the tram station, there was a street lined with glassed covered boats which were doing roaring business with tourists taking boat tours of the narrow canals. At night they were lit up with visitors undertaking romantic candle night dinner tours on decorated riverboats meandering past the lighted bridges, some with live music playing.
We had booked our accommodation close to the main railway station on Keizersgracht Street. It was a hostel type of accommodation to suit our budget with personal lockers for the dormitory occupants. The narrow corridors to the old properties in the city centre didn’t allow furniture to be taken through them and therefore windows were used to winch them with the use of pulleys.
We had arrived a day later after the start of the World Cup and found out (as it was well before the advent of the Internet) that titleholders, Pakistan team had won their first match against Malaysia (4-2) on an opening day.
This was a big statement for Pakistan, as they had been forced to field a makeshift team after some of their players had been banned following their misdemeanours at the medal ceremony a year earlier at the Munich Olympics.
Munich Olympic demeanours.
Pakistan were titleholders at the time in Munich and they had faced Germany and lost a closely contested final through a sole goal which they disputed should not have been allowed due to ‘sticks’ (the striker having raised his stick above shoulder height in his follow-through – a ridiculous rule which was later withdrawn). They protested against the decision after the match and at one stage the President of the International Hockey Federation, Frank Rene had a bucket full of water thrown over him by Pakistani followers.
Pakistan had their appeal turned down against the umpiring and at the medal ceremony some Pakistani players still carrying on their protest were seen to place their silver medals in their shoes as a show of disrespect.
The leader of the pack in the protest it later transpired was Shanaz Sheikh and amongst other players banned were goalkeeper Saleem Sherwani and deadly striker Rashid Junior who was top scorer for the Greenshirts in Munich.
Pakistan had to recall veteran, right-winger Khalid Mahmood out of retirement and he was named as the captain just as he had been when they had won the inaugural World Cup in Barcelona in 1971.
Greenshirts gave debuts to teenagers Mohammad Azam a diminutive inside-right and 16-year-old Safdar Abbas, who became the youngest player to represent Pakistan. Azam later moved to London where he was only a shadow of the player compared to his heyday. Playing almost full season for the Spencer veterans team he failed to score a single goal.
With little expectation from the team, it progressed serenely as dark horses into the semi-finals. Tanvir Dar was one of only two players from the Olympic team the other being Akhtar Rasool. Tanvir despite somewhat overweight and hampered by a knee injury formed a sound deep defence partnership with younger newcomer, Manzoor ul Hassan.
Pakistani fans at the World Cup
Some Pakistani fans had met us on our first day at Amsterdam railway station and they asked us to accompany them to an outdoor brick-mac market. These were sailors whose ship had docked at Rotterdam, fortunately, coinciding with the duration of the World Cup. They purchased a brass horn from the market which was to become very famous in the stadium whenever Pakistan was playing.
Tanvir Dar with 7 goals was top scorer for Greenshirts. His tally included some memorable goals none more so than the one against England. With Pakistan trailing 1-0, they were awarded a penalty corner, up walked Tanvir folding his shirt sleeves to his elbows, Akhtar Rasool hand-stopped the ball for him and he struck it with such ferocity all along the ground that it rocketed past Peter Mills (a world-class keeper) through his legs and the ball rebounded from the backboards and lay in front of the bemused goalkeeper. However surprisingly defending champions were held to a draw 2-2 by England.
However, Pakistan won their remaining matches against Belgium (2-0) and Malaysia (3-0).
Samiullah (nicknamed later ‘the flying horse’) played at inside left and 16-year-old Safdar Abbas (whose deadly penalty corner striker’s nephew Sohail Abbas later became the highest ever goalscorer in international hockey) made his debut on the left wing against Argentina.
This match was played on a side pitch next to the main stadium where at the same time Holland was playing England. I can still recall the roar from the stadium when the hosts scored their equaliser. This was something which we had not witnessed in a hockey ground before and was more in line with what is heard in football stadiums.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani attack was rampant against the South American’s with youngster debutant Safdar also scoring in their 6-0 victory.
The passion displayed by the Dutch sell-out crowds was much in evidence. The roar of the partisan crowd lifting their team by stamping their feet on the wooden rafts still lingers in my memory. The host nation playing on the heavy grass pitches responded splendidly to the vociferously cheering for ‘Holland-Holland-Holland) more akin to football grounds – reached the semi-final stages too.
Press XI vs Organisers XI
During the rest day of a major tournament traditionally a match is played between the Press XI (now known as the media team) and the team comprising of the “organisers”. My travelling partner Fareed was part of the accredited media and I accompanied him to the match at a local hockey club for this match. Since the introduction of astro pitches this match is now played in the main venue stadium pitch giving the participants an actual feel of the competition though bereft of the same atmosphere without many spectators.
I was requested to be the 12th man (the only substitute) guesting for the Press side and was told to come on to replace a renowned English hockey journalist, Patrick Rowley. The rules at the time unlike now didn’t allow roll-on and roll-off substitutions. Patrick despite his advanced age loved his hockey and showed no signs of coming off.
With the Press team 1-0 down, the Kenyan East African Standard reporter (an Englishman) taking pity on me, gestured me to replace him saying, Patrick “will never come off”. As soon as I stepped on to the lush playing surface (hockey was played on turf at the time) wearing casual trousers and casual shoes the opposition scored another goal.
Anyhow, we forced a penalty corner and much to my surprise they trusted me to receive the ball. Luckily I sounded the board with a shot along the ground to reduce our deficit. When we were next awarded a penalty corner I repeated the dose, earning the Press team a creditable 2-2 draw. In the clubhouse after the match, we were treated royally. The younger members in the ‘Organisers team’ felt somewhat embarrassed not to win against a team comprising of mature journalists and a “guest”.
Patrick Rowley friendship
The match forged a great friendship between myself and Patrick Rowley which to date has spanned almost half a century. He was the hockey reporter for the national daily newspaper, ‘Guardian’ for a considerable length of time and his views and reporting carried wait with the selection of the England and Great Britain teams. Through my contact with him, we Muslim Tigers Ahmadiyya (MTA) were able to have a report of our match against a visiting team from Azerbaijan in the national newspaper – “The Times”.
It was on Patrick’s recommendation that I joined the highly acclaimed hockey club in 1974, Blackheath, with whom I went on to win some national honours. I also had the honour of captaining the 1st XI for 5 years. Amongst my notable achievements was winning the Benson Hedges National Indoor Club Championships. The finals night in front of sell-out crowd at Crystal Palace was televised on Grandstand programme.
Later in 1996 on his insistence, I started to report on international hockey matches. After triangular matches comprising of Pakistan, Holland and South Africa in Holland on my return, I filed my first-ever report to Daily Jhang and was surprised to see it appearing in the sports section in its entirety. This was to mark the start of my career in sports journalism.
On the rest day, we took the train to visit the Mubarak Mosque in The Hague. The Missionary-in-charge, Maulana Akmal was pleased to host us and offered us a cup of tea and a biscuit each! On his suggestion, we visited ‘Muduradam’ – a famous three-D painting and the beach at Scheveningen.
We were also able to squeeze a visit to the Peace Palace – The International Court of Justice, where we sighted Sir Zafarullah Khan’s oil painted portrait amongst the past Presidents. The guide remarked that he was the only person who refused to sit for his portrait and the artist had to it sketch from a picture, as he considered time spent thus was not making best use of his time!
Coming back to hockey, the local Dutch spectators tended to be well dressed wearing their expensive ‘Sunday best’ clothing. The Dutch have a tradition of eating raw kippers dipped into chopped onions and this was in evidence as the locals sitting in rows would gulp them in one clean sweep.
The Indian team put together an excellent match-winning display with Ashok Kumar son of the great Dyan Chand, displaying mesmerising stick-work with solid defence marshalled by Surjit Singh and Ajit Singh at centre half in a commanding role moved into the semi final stages.
The Madras Hockey Association had flown over a character fondly known as ‘bhalajee’. Wearing ‘Shastri ‘style white Indian salwar kameez and matching Nehru style white cap – he became India’s premier fan at the tournament. Amongst the musical instruments he played were two heavy brass discs which he would clap together silencing the entire stadium.
India undoubtedly had the best all round team at the 2nd World Cup. Such was their confidence that their coach, Gentle, a former Indian hockey legend had said ‘he would eat his hat if they failed to bring back the gold medal’.
Surprising they were held by draws by W. Germany (0-0) and New Zealand (1-1) and hence finished runners up in their group. India had missed a penalty stroke against Germany and this weakness was to cost them the gold medal.
India vs Pakistan semi-final
As soon as it was known that Pakistan and India were to face each other in the semi-final as Pakistan had topped their group, an impromptu ‘bhangra dance’ show was put up with their make do musical instruments, by both sets of supporters in which the curious locals joined in the fun too.
The south Asian rivals put an enthralling match regarded as one of the best matches in the tournament. Both sides missed opportunities with India squandering a penalty stroke and Ashok Kumar saving on the line to thwart a penalty corner strike from Tanvir Dar.
In the end, the teams were separated by a single reverse flick spectacular goal scored by India’s spearhead Govinda late in the game. Thus ending Pakistan’s gallant attempt in retaining their title which they had won in Barcelona two years earlier. The artistry of the Asian style of hockey was a joy to watch.
For the partisan Pakistani sailors the knock out defeat that too at the hands of their perineal arch-rivals was numbing as they disappeared straight after the match. Not bothering to watch Pakistan’s bronze medal match against West Germany. Which incidentally Pakistan lost and went home empty-handed.
India meanwhile went on to face the hosts in the final who had overcome the challenge of their neighbours West Germany (before the merger with East Germany) in closely fought semi final. The contrasting styles of the two semi finals was much in evidence.
The German team was captained by Michael Peters, a wiry but superb sweeper who played with a swagger of arrogance. A few years later I faced him in the London Indians 25th Anniversary Tournament in 1979 at Crystal Palace when he captained Heidelberg HC. Whilst still a still superb player, I recall myself and Imtiaz Sheikh (my club player) scoring a dazzling goal with one-two passes straight after the push back. We eventually won that game 3-1; in fact Peters got himself sent off after much frustration in the game.
Coming back to the World Cup in Amsterdam – a horde of Indian hockey followers mostly from England had come to support their team. The crowd included many Kenyan Asians such as the Jita’s ‘Satellites’ team members which included Naveen Vadgama, Pindi Plaha, Kalsi brothers Bholu, Deeki, Nim and Moni most had migrated recently to England from Nairobi.
Roy Daljit and Ajit Singh, Medway United players both passionate hockey followers also made the journey from Gillingham just to watch the final.
In final India were 2-0 up after 9 minutes but the Dutch team in front of a capacity vociferous crowd clawed their way back to 2-2. In extra-time Govinda failed to convert a penalty stroke and eventually, the host prevailed 4-2 in the penalty strokes competition to win thus carrying aloft the magnificent World Trophy which incidentally had been donated by Pakistan.
The Indian players and fans stood transfixed to their spots and many were seen sobbing disconsolately. It was a cruel blow for a team that promised to live up to their pre-tournament billing.
As I finished this piece we are about to embark on a journey from Miami to Los Angeles via, Bahamas, Guatemala Colombia and Mexico. The cruise will pass through the Panama Canal which saw the fulfilment of the prophecy contained in the Quran – Chapter 55, verse 21 states:
“He has made the two bodies of water flow, they will one day meet”.
The world had to wait thirteen long centuries to see the fulfilment of this grand prophecy by the joining of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Shahid Khan Memories 