ISLAMABAD: Former Olympian goalkeeper Mansoor Ahmed feels disappointed for the green-shirts not featuring in the 2014 World Cup, while noting that the nation’s interest in the game has also declined considerably during the past few years.

The World Cup will be staged from May 31 to June 15 in the Netherlands. This will be the first time that Pakistan, once a giant force in world hockey and the former four-time World Cup winners, have not qualified for the mega event.

Mansoor, declared the world’s best goalkeeper by the FIH in 1994, said he still remembers the memorable 1994 World Cup final against Holland in Sydney when the all-important clash was to be decided on penalty strokes.

“I remember when I saved two penalty hits from the Dutchmen and chants of “hockey power, Paki power” filled the air of Sydney stadium. It was the best moment of my life,” he recalled.

Mansoor reckoned the Pakistan nation had a lot to do with the decline of the national game during the past few years. “During our playing time the whole nation used to follow our matches regularly with passion. But nowadays [majority of] our people have stopped taking interest in the game,” he observed.

Now, Mansoor further said, he didn’t witness any crowd coming to stadiums to watch hockey matches, a majority of people didn’t even watch the action on television.

“When our cricket team lose the whole nation criticises the players and when they win the same nation praise them,” he noted, adding “but the people don’t bother and take no interest if our national hockey team lose or win.”

Speaking of the national team’s chances in the 2014 Asian Games to be held in Incheon, South Korea, Mansoor believed India and Malaysia would give Pakistan tough time at the continental event.

Responding to a question, Mansoor said when Shahnaz Sheikh accepted the responsibility as national team head coach, he should fulfil it rather than saying that it would take three to four years to bring the national team back on track.

“We will be defending champions in the Asian Games, and so if our team perform below par in Incheon, it will be the responsibility of the coach,” Mansoor stated.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2014