Two Pakistani defenders close in on Dhanraj Pillay on Wednesday. Pakistan won 3-0

Athens: Pakistan have secured a place for themselves in the Champions Trophy. And why not.

They were convincing in beating India 3-0 in their play-off Wednesday. What India can now achieve is that they can plumb the depths and achieve the worst-ever result in an Olympics when they go into the seventh-eighth place classification match at the Olympic hockey complex here Friday morning.

India had finished seventh on four occasions — in Montreal (1976), Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000). This one could be a record-setter.

Indians probably lived a charmed life in the first 43 minutes of the match Wednesday. Pakistan pushed through six penalty corners, scored off one (Sohail Abbas, who else?), with fine field goals complementing, while India wasted their two penalty corners and let go defensive lapses.

More than an India-Pakistan match, it was a clash between a Dutch and a German coach. India’s German leader, Gerhard Rach, said after the match that he was “happy” with the team’s performance in the first half. That went against the tone of the match, though, Pakistan being able to make easy inroads.

“We could hold them to a draw in those minutes,” said Rach. The problem is, a German coach would never know the many different emotions involved in a India-Pakistan match.

It was not just about strategy. It was about local Indians too. Harminder Singh, living in the Fouruier area, was known to make his organisations lavish in arriving at Indian matches. He would decorate cars with Indian flags and had printed T-shirts with the Indian flag on it. They would cheer.

They did not even bother to turn up for the India-Pakistan match, saying: “What’s the point? We’ll lose anyway.” The stands were pretty much empty.

The players were down in the dumps, the morale of the entire team has hit rock bottom. Versus Korea it is going to be tough, and more, with the will to win gone.

Rach said: “From the moment Pakistan scored, they were in control. However, in the second half injuries and fatigue did not give us a chance of winning.”

Skipper Dilip Tirkey said: “In the first half we played well but failed in the second. Now we will have to give our best in the 7th-8th place match.”

Roelant Oltmans, the Pakistan coach, said: “It was a tough game for us. Our performance was good. We had many opportunities to score and it would have been good had we scored earlier. We have beaten India six times in a row. The boys knew they could beat them, and it was a good result.”

Sohail Abbas said: “It was important to beat India. Playing versus India before was like war, but now things are changing.”

Meanwhile, Australia stirred up things a bit in the second semis, beating Spain 6-3. Of course, Holland, the other finalists (beating Germany 3-2), have the credentials and the form.