Pak wants action against England's foul play

New Delhi:

Pakistan captain Zeeshan Ashraf demanded action against some English players who, he alleged, resorted to intentional foul play in the Pool B match of the hockey World Cup on Thursday.

Zeeshan said one England player intentionally fouled Irfan Muhammad in the second half but he went scot-free.

"Irfan was hit by an England player and it was intentional. Just like Shivendra Singh was banned, the tournament director should see the match video footage and he (the English player) should be suspended," said Zeeshan after his side lost 2-5 in their third Pool B match.

Zeeshan, however, did not say that Pakistan would lodge a complain to the tournament director.

Striker Rehan Butt also said that the England players committed some intentional fouls and the tournament directors should take note of that. "The tournament director should take action as there was intentional fouls (by England players) after seeing the video footage just like had been done in case of Shivendra," the star striker said.

Zeeshan conceded that some individual mistakes also cost the team dear besides the two yellow cards they got in the second session after they restored parity from 0-2 down at the breather.

"England played well in the first half. We came back strongly in the second half by scoring two goals but the two yellow cards slowed down the tempo of our comeback

"Moreover we made mistakes in the second session. Though it will be difficult to make it to the semifinals but it is not over for us. We would look to win the last two matches and see what happens," he said.

Asked about poor performance of star drag-flicker Sohail Abbas and striker Rehan Butt, Zeeshan said, "Sohail could not score from two penalty corners and we think England goalkeeper had come prepared. Rehan though was off-colour today."

Rehan Butt agreed that the third goal by England was due to the mistake of goalkeeper Salman Akbar.

"We had some individual mistakes and that contributed to our loss. Salman had a mistake and that led to the third goal. But it is part of the game," said Rehan.