ACC : Lack of stars not a problem for Olympian Village Club

Olympian Village Club did not had a single national player in their team but they were still good enough to win the Pakistan inter-club championships in Lahore last month.

Team manager Aslam Rodha said that they proved to the other clubs in their country that star players alone did not always win championships.

Aslam, who arrived here yesterday afternoon with the team for the Asian Champion Clubs (ACC) tournament, said: “We believe in teamwork and having dedicated players to win matches. We have a young team with an average age of 22 and they are in high spirits to win the tournament here.”

He added that their aim was to become the first Pakistani team to emerge as the champions.

“I have faith in my players and know that they have the ability to achieve it,’’ said Aslam.

Olympian Village will take on Adijon of Uzbekistan today and their other match in Group B is against Singapore Recreation Club tomorrow. Aslam said that they should have no problem winning both matches to reach the final.

“We are also not too worried if we have to play against (Malaysia’s) Ernst and Young, who have 16 national players in their side (in the final). We know the Malaysian style of play and how to overcome them,” he said.

Aslam added that in the run-up to the tournament, they played five friendly matches last week.

“We have two very good penalty corner flickers and will be banking on them to deliver the goals,’’ he Aslam, referring to defenders Mohammad Irfan Mohammad Shafiq and Mohammad Tousiq.