KUALA LUMPUR: The stirring way the Green Shirts stormed back against the mighty Dutch side in a Junior World Cup (JWC) match would fill many hockey connoisseurs with envy.
Pakistan, coached by Dutchman Roelant Oltmans, who incidentally guided Malaysia's national team several years ago, are showing signs that they are a rising force again in the sport.
Pakistan held their own against the mighty Netherlands in a physical but thrilling 3-3 draw in a JWC Group D match at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Wednesday.
European champions Netherlands started off well by taking a 2-0 lead with field goals through Boris Aardenburg (21st) and Casper Van Der Veen (30th).
But Pakistan, who were the silver medallists at the Junior Asia Cup in Oman in January, showed great composure to hit back with two goals within four minutes. Arshad Liaqat scored from a field attempt in the 32nd and Sufyan Khan sounded the board off a penalty corner in the 36th.
The Jong Oranje, who are eyeing their first JWC crown, managed to regain the lead in the 47th minute with a brilliant field goal by Olivier Hortensius.
However, Pakistan showed that they have the quality to rumble with the big guns and soon got even with the Dutch by scoring in the 55th minute through a penalty stroke by Arbaz Ahmad.
Both teams gave no quarter in a scrappy game as the Netherlands' Dylan Lucieer received a yellow card in the 35th minute and Pakistan's Abdul Manan (45th) and Arshad Liaqat (55th) were sent to the sin bin.
Oltmans said he was pleased with the result, which was quite unexpected.
"Netherlands punished us for our mistakes in the first two quarters. But we fought back and did well to snatch a point against the number one team in the tournament.
"If we can overcome our inconsistency, then we can create better results," he added.
Netherlands coach Jesse Mahieu said: "We were leading 2-0 but our energy was lacking in the third quarter. We fought back into the game and stayed in it until we had a yellow card 10 minutes after.
"If we look at the game statistically, we should have won it. But we just could not convert our chances."
Hortensius said: "The match was good, but we are not happy with the result. But it's an okay start.
"Our energy dropped in the first five minutes after the break and then we got our yellow card and we couldn't cope with the heat."