Rizwan ruled out of tourney due to broken finger

PAKISTAN suffered a big blow when skipper Muhammad Rizwan (pic) was ruled out from the World Cup.

Rizwan, who marshals the midfield, will miss the crucial Group D match against Holland at the Kalinga Stadium today, after he fractured his little finger during training on Friday.

Fortunately, International Hockey Federation (FIH) technical delegate allowed Pakistan to fly Muhammad Arslan Qadir from Lahore to Bhubaneswar as replacement for the team captain.

“We must thank FIH as they allowed us to call up a player from Pakistan to replace our injured Rizwan,” said team manager Sardar Hassan.

“We called up Arslan, who is a forward and he arrives tonight.

“We need to beef up our strike force in the important match against Holland.”

They, however, received one good news yesterday when defender Ammad Butt was cleared to play after a one-match suspension.

Pakistan have two points from two matches and need at least a draw against the Dutch team to finish top three and qualify for the second round.

Sardar added Holland would not hold their punches against them after losing 1-4 to Germany.

“They want to collect full points to finish top two in the group. We’re in a tricky situation,” said Sardar.

“We have to collect full points against Holland if Malaysia beats Germany (in the Group D final match).

“But if both Malaysia and Pakistan lose, I still believe that we’ll qualify for the second round as we’ve conceded fewer goals than Malaysia.”