LAHORE, Dec 4 (UNI): Hosts Pakistan lived up to the expectations showcasing aggressive yet classy performance to outplay world champions Germany 3-1 in their match opener at the 26th Men's Champions Trophy Hockey tournament here today.
After a dismal performance by India earlier in the day, Pakistan brought some cheer and reason to smile for the sub-continent with their strong and clinical display to get the better of Germany, much to the delight of a near packed National Hockey stadium.
The hosts drew first blood through world's highest scorer Sohail Abbas via a penalty corner just before the end of first half.
At the breather, the score read 1-0 in favour of Pakistan.
Germany drew parity after resumption when Jan-Marco Montag converted a penalty corner to level at 1-1 in the 40th minute.
Sensing a deadlock, Pakistan increased the pace of the game and unleashed a series of attacks which baffled the listless German defenders.
The constant pressure put the Germans in a corner and the hosts took the opportunity to their advantage and scored in the 52nd minute through a field goal by Shakeel Abbasi to take 2-1 lead.
Kashif Jawwad increased the lead through penalty corner conversion in the 64th minute.
Pakistan captain Waseem Ahmed expressed satisfaction by the team's performance and the outcome of the match.
"It was a good match.
They (Germans) also played well but we were definitely a better team today.
It's great to start off with a win," he said.
Legendary coach Roelent Oltman looked impressed with the team's performance but said the team could do still better.
"There are certain areas to be addressed and hopefully the team will do them in the coming matches," he added.
If India's performance was dampener, Pakistan gave high hopes for an interesting and tough elite six-nation tournament.