"It feels sad that we were not able to play in SF's": Pakistan captain Muhammad Umar Bhutta
Aug 11, 2023
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 11 : Pakistan captain Muhammad Umar Bhutta expressed his dissapointment in missing out on a semifinal spot in the Asian Champions Trophy, but called it a great learning experience.
Pakistan registered a dominating victory against China with a 6-1 scoreline to finish their tournament in fifth position on Friday.
After the game, Bhutta expressed his views on Pakistan's journey and said, "It feels sad that we were not able to play in the semi-finals. We scored field goals & short corners, the boys learnt match by match and that is the learning."
Coming to the match, the contest's fate was set in the first quarter, with Pakistan starting brightly and rushing forward in attack. In the first quarter, it ran over the China backline, penetrating the circle at will and forcing errors to earn penalty corners.
The first came 28 seconds after pushback, but China was saved by an error from Muhammad Sufyan Khan. In the 10th minute, Ahtisham Aslam blasted in a pass from the right side to give the Green Shirts the lead. Caiyu Wang was forced to save after a deflection off a Chinese stick, but Muhammad Ammad was in the right spot at the right moment to tap away the rebound.
Sufyan added two more drag flicks in the next two minutes, burying them in the upper right corner.
In the second phase, the Pakistani attack persisted, forcing China to swarm its circle in order to close out space. Sufyan chose a variation pass to his right rather than a drag and a diving Hannan struck the post in the 27th minute from a penalty corner.
China showed more coordination in getting the ball out of pressure in the third quarter. After Qijun Chen's final pass into the circle provoked a mistake from Sufyan, China was awarded a short corner, which Benhai Chen tucked in.
In the 52nd minute, Ammad put another rebound past the Chinese goalkeeper with a vertical stick shot, breaking the Chinese momentum. Three minutes later, Rana skipped into the circle past two China shirts and sounded the board for Pakistan's sixth goal.
