Day 6 Olympic Preview - GB v Pakistan

Great Britain will be looking to get back to winning ways against Pakistan, having drawn with South Africa in their last pool match.

Fixture: Great Britain v Pakistan
Date and time: Friday 3rd August - 16.00
Location: Riverbank Arena
Watch live on BBC: Olympics 10 (red button on Sky, Virgin and Freesat)  

Click here for other ways to watch hockey at the Olympic Games

World Rankings
Great Britain #4
Pakistan #8

Head to Head Record
Played: 48
Won: 13
Drawn: 7
Lost: 28
Goals for: 76 
Goals against: 126

Great Britain has played Pakistan an impressive 48 times, and their first ever encounter coincidently was at the London 1948 Olympic Games. Great Britain won this 2 - 0. More recently in June 2012, Great Britain came from behind to beat Pakistan 2 – 1 in Malaysia at the Sultan Aslan Shah Cup. Barry Middleton and Ashley Jackson were the two goal scorers in a second half which GB dominated.


Player to watch: Great Britain

Ashley made his debut when he was 19 years old and has since been one of the star players in the GB line-up with 133 international caps and 75 goals to his name. Renowned for his drag flicking Ashley has been acknowledged by his peers as one of the best players in the world. An accolade which has been reinforced twice following his inclusion in the FIH World All Stars Team in 2009 and 2010 and being named the FIH World Young Player of the Year in 2009. Ashley has been in sparkling form lately, scoring four goals in three games at the Olympic Test Event and a further six goals at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. So far at the 2012 games  he has scored twice, including a superb drag flick against South Africa. He is definitely an exciting talent to watch at this summer’s Olympic Games.

Players to watch: Pakistan
We asked the GB team who they considered the players to watch are

Name: Sohail Abbas
Position: Defender

Captain of the Pakistan side, Abbas is the top goal-scorer in the history of hockey. He is also their penalty-corner specialist and is highly likely to be a goal scoring threat at the Games.

Name: Rehan Butt
Position: Centre forward

A very talented and experienced centre forward, Butt has made appearances in 2008 and 2010 for the FIH All-Star Team. His experience will be invaluable, particularly for the younger members of the Pakistan squad.