Pakistan face a must-win clash against arch-rivals India in the FIH Hockey World Cup, with only victory enough to take the Green Shirts into the next stage of the tournament.
India, meanwhile, need only a draw in the Pool D encounter at Wagener Hockey Stadium to secure qualification.
The qualification equation in Pool D remains complicated, with Wales also in contention for a place in the top eight.
England, who have won both of their opening matches, currently lead the pool with six points. India have three points after defeating Wales 3-1, while Pakistan and Wales have one point each from their respective matches.
Pakistan have scored four goals and conceded seven, leaving them with a weaker goal difference than Wales, who have scored four and conceded six.
For Wales to qualify, they must defeat England and hope Pakistan beat India. If Wales win, goal difference could determine the second qualifying spot.
The England-Wales match will be played before the Pakistan-India encounter. Should Wales secure victory, Pakistan would need to beat India by a sufficient margin to overtake Wales on goal difference.
Under the tournament’s new format, the top two teams from each of the four preliminary pools advance to a league stage comprising the top eight sides.
The two qualifiers from Pool D will join the top two teams from Pool A. Teams that faced each other in the preliminary stage will not meet again in the next phase, although the result of their earlier encounter will be carried forward.
Pakistan hockey legend and chief selector Samiullah Khan has urged the national team to adopt a compact defensive strategy and avoid conceding penalty corners early in the match.
“I would advise Pakistan captain to keep a compact defence and not concede any penalty corners to India in the first quarter,” Samiullah told Press Trust of India.
He also called on Pakistan’s midfielders to maintain an attacking approach instead of frequently passing the ball backwards, while urging the forwards to create scoring opportunities through diagonal and interchange passes.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist expressed confidence that Pakistan’s young squad could cope with the pressure of the high-stakes encounter.
He noted that the team had recently put up a strong fight against India in the Pro League and said the players had sufficient international experience to understand the importance of the World Cup fixture.
In other matches, New Zealand defeated Japan 2-0 in a Pool A encounter on Tuesday, while Australia edged Spain 1-0 in Pool D. Germany defeated Belgium 1-0 in a Pool B match on Monday.
