Pakistan upstage Germany in Champions Trophy

Title-seeking Pakistan opened their Champions Trophy campaign with a 3-1 victory over new-look Germany.

Title-seeking Pakistan opened their Champions Trophy campaign with a 3-1 victory over new-look Germany before some 25,000 cheering home fans here on Saturday.

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Pakistan, who last won a major title in 1994 when they took both the World Cup and Champions Trophy, avenged the 2-1 defeat by Germany at the Athens Olympics in August.

Versatile penalty corner striker Sohail Abbas, Rehan Butt and Kashif Jawwad scored for the hosts while Germany earned a consolation goal through Jan-Marco Montag in the final match of the opening day.

In earlier matches, defending champions the Netherlands downed New Zealand 5-2 while Spain beat India 4-0.

Germany, fielding just two players from their Olympic squad, held Pakistan's forwards at bay till Abbas scored off his team's second penalty corner just before half-time.

It was the 28-year-old world record holder's 269th goal in 219 matches.

Germany drew level five minutes into the second half when Montag scooped in a penalty corner.

Butt and Jawad increased the tally to finish a convincing win for the hosts, only their second in eight matches against Germany this year.

Each team plays the other once in the round-robin league with the top two advancing to the final on December 12.