Men's Hockey World Cup 2018: Pakistan to play cross-overs round after losing to Netherlands

Pakistan suffered a 1-5 defeat against the Netherlands but still sneaked into the knock-out stages at the men's hockey World Cup here on Sunday. The Netherlands scored through Thierry Brinkman (7th minute), Valentin Verga (27th), Bob de Voogd (37th), Jorrit Croon (47th) and Mink van der Weerden (59th) en route to their comfortable win. Pakistan's lone goal came from the stick of Umar Bhutta in the ninth minute. Pakistan played catch-up hockey and looked a disjointed unit, having no idea what to do with the ball when it's in their possession. They mostly relied on counter-attacks to surprise their higher ranked opponents but the vast gap of quality between the two sides was quiet evident on the turf. World number 4 Netherlands started on a bright note and secured their first penalty corner in the fourth minute but it was wasted. Three minutes later, Brinkman gave the Netherlands the lead with a field strike. But Pakistan bounced back strongly and earned three back-to-back penalty corners, from the last of which Bhutta scored off a rebound after Ali Mubashar's flick was saved by Dutch goalie Pirmin Blaak. In the second quarter, both the Netherlands and Pakistan traded a penalty corner each but failed to extract anything from the opportunities. Three minutes from half-time, the Dutch restored their lead through Verga who scored a fine field goal after a brilliant one-two touch play with Seve van Ass. The Netherlands started from where they left after the change of ends and extended their lead in the 37th minute with a diving effort at the far post from de Voogd, who tapped in a pass from Jeroen Hertzberger. The Dutch continued their onslaught and secured a couple of penalty corners in quick time and from one such chance, Jorrit Croon scored to make the scoreline 4-1 in the European side's favour. Van der Weerden then converted a penalty corner a minute from the final hooter to round off the scoreline and end Pakistan's agony.