Islamabad
Nasir Ali, a key player with the Pakistan hockey team that emerged victorious at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games on Wednesday recalled the memories of that competition, revealing the impact that winning Olympic gold in the world’s prestigious event has had on his life.
“The most exciting thing for any player who plays internationally is to be a part of the Olympics. Being able to represent my country at the Olympics was a big deal for me. The sense of pride and honour you feel is inexplicable,” he said in an interview with the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
“We were all so overwhelmed. We were a team of 16, 14 of which were participating in the Olympics for the very first time. The captain and vice-captain had played in the 1976 Olympics. I still remember that before leaving for the US, during all our training sessions, our coaches would motivate us, and every day we would stare at the posters plastered on the walls of our rooms that said: “WE ARE GONNA BRING THE GOLD MEDAL HOME.” We had little experience, but we were fighters who had strong determination and perseverance.” He said in their pool, Pakistan did not lose a single match as it was either a win or a draw.
“The first match, against New Zealand, was a draw, second against Canada was a win, third was a draw with Holland, fourth against Kenya was a win before a draw against Great Britain in the fifth match.” According to Nasir after the match with Great Britain Pakistan players were very sad and demotivated as they felt they had lost their chance because it left Holland needing a 5-0 win against Kenya to qualify for the semi-final, which they thought the Dutch would do.—APP
