Remembering Jalil

PETALING JAYA: Fifty years have passed since Abdul Jalil Che Din (pic, above) became the first and only coach to steer the Malaysian football team to an Olympic adventure in Munich.

Unfortunately, his name may be consigned to the pages of history without due recognition.

The late Jalil, born in Gelugor, Penang on July 27, 1934, was arguably the most successful coach in Malaysian football history.

Two years after Munich, Jalil, an executioner at the Prison’s Department by profession, took the team to the bronze medal in the Asian Games in Teheran, shortly after winning the Merdeka Tournament in Ipoh.

In retrospect, the matches in Munich and Teheran took place in the months of August and September of the respective years, which are highly significant as the nation celebrate the national month.

Malaysia kicked off their Olympics campaign with a 3-0 loss to hosts West Germany boosted by the presence of future Bayern Munich legend Uli Hoeness and acclaimed coach Ottmar Hitzfeld on Aug 27.

Jalil’s men bounced back with an emphatic 3-0 victory over the United States of America, with Shaharuddin Abdullah, Salleh Ibrahim and Wan Zawawi Wan Yusoff getting on the scoresheet.

Jalil and his men ended their campaign with an unfortunate 6-0 trouncing by Morocco on the day the country celebrated the 15th Merdeka anniversary on Aug 31.

On Sept 15, 1974, with Syed Ahmad Abu Bakar, Mokhtar Dahari and Isa Bakar forming the attacking triumvirate, Malaysia bagged the Asian Games bronze medal in Teheran courtesy of Isa’s two goals against North Korea in the bronze playoff.

Despite his reputation as a fierce-looking taskmaster, Jalil’s coaching methods reaped the desired dividends.

Jalil’s son Jeilani, recalled:

“Father was equally fierce at home. Perhaps it was his way of carrying himself at work and at home. We were brought up not to ask questions. Occasionally when I got the opportunity to watch him conduct training sessions, I realised he took the hardline approach,” said the former bank officer, when met in Penang recently.

Jelaini said Jalil’s sporting career could be divided into four phases, as an athletic schoolboy, a national footballer, his job at the Prisons Department and his role as a successful coach.

As a schoolboy, Jalil carved out a reputation as a versatile athlete at the Bukit Mertajam High School.

His ability to sprint, play rugby, sepak takraw and football with equal ease earned the esteem of his peers, including former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the late Datuk M. Kuppan, who went on to win the Merdeka Tournament as player and coach.

A rock-solid centre half with Penang, later Perak and the Malayan team, Jalil was a member of the squad that lifted the Merdeka Tournament in 1958, partnering Ahmad Nazari Zohri Min in defence.

Knowledge seekers: Jalil (right), Ghani Minhat (left) and two other participants at the coaching school.

He was also a key member of the pre-Asian Cup 1959 in a squad helmed by Choo Seng Quee.

It was also in 1958 that Jalil took up the job at the Prisons Department, given the unenviable task of putting the noose on the condemned prisoner in the hanging chamber.

Handpicked by the then director-general of Prisons, the late Tan Sri Murad Ahmad, who was keen to promote the department’s image as a sporting powerhouse, Jalil was made the focal point of a strong football team.

“Looking back, he was a product of his environment. His coaching career created an impression of sorts on his charges. After retiring as coach, he concentrated on playing golf, his favourite sport until his last breath,” said Jelaini.

With a knee injury in 1960 cutting short his international career, Jalil began to rearrange his priorities.

He was among four coaches, along with Abdul Ghani Minhat (later Tan Sri), N. Raju and C. Arasaratnam, to be dispatched to the inaugural FIFA Coaches School in Chiba, Japan, from July to October 1969.

The course was conducted by legendary German coach, Dettmar Cramer.

Good buddies: Jalil (left) posing with Ghani Minhat.

The quartet were among 42 coaches from 13 Asian countries exposed to the latest tactics and technique in world football.

Upon their return, Ghani was announced as the chief coach for the 1969 Merdeka Tournament, whereas Arasaratnam was handed the task of guiding the team to the South Vietnam Independence Cup and Jalil led the squad to the King’s Cup in Thailand ahead of the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok.

As the pioneering member of FIFA-accredited coaches from Malaysia, Jalil quickly gained a reputation as a respected coach with emphasis on physical fitness.

He later teamed up with former Penang goalkeeper Dave McLaren – appointed by FA of Malaysia (FAM) in 1970 as the second professional coach after Seng Quee – to successfully guide the team in the Olympic preliminary rounds in Seoul in 1971, defeating 1968 bronze medallists Japan and South Korea en route to booking the ticket to Munich.

At club level, Jalil’s coaching credentials were hard to dispute as he took the Prisons team – boasting the likes of Syed Ahmad, Hamzah Hussein, Namat Abdullah, Salleh, V. Krishnasamy, Shaharuddin and Ali Bakar – to the FAM Cup titles in 1970, 1971 and 1973.

As the Malaysian chief coach in a career spanning slightly more than 10 years, Jalil bagged two silver medals in the Kuala Lumpur 1973 and Bangkok 1975 SEAP Games, as well as the silver in the 1981 SEA Games in Manila.

On top of the Olympic assignment and the bronze in Teheran 1974, Jalil also made sure the team qualified for the AFC Asian Cup for the first time in 1976 after a successful qualifying campaign in 1975.

Hamzah, the Kelantan-born midfield dynamo in the Munich squad, recalled Jalil’s tendency to instil fear into his disciples.

“That was his way of taking control of the situation. A firm believer of cross-country running and military style training, Jalil was also strict with our diet,” recalled Hamzah.

Jalil and the Munich squad, however, are the forgotten heroes in Malaysian football.

While the 1980 Moscow Olympic squad garnered attention, adulation, Datukships and inspired the movie Ola Bola without even seeing action in the Games due to the US-led boycott, the 1972 team remain largely in the shadows.

The 19-man squad comprised goalkeepers Wong Kam Fook and Lim Fung Kee, defenders Datuk Soh Chin Aun, Datuk M. Chandran, Datuk Namat, Bahwandi Hiralal and Othman Abdullah, midfielders Koo Luam Khen, Krishnasamy, Harun Jusoh, Salleh, Hamzah, Wan Zawawi, Wong Choon Wah, Ali and forwards Datuk Mohamad Bakar, Shaharuddin, Looi Loon Teik and Rahim Abdullah.

In memoriam are Chandran, Namat, Othman, Krishnasamy, Salleh, Wan Zawawi, Choon Wah, Ali and Mohamad.

Undoubtedly influenced by Jalil’s methods, four of Munich Olympians eventually went on to become national team coaches themselves – Chandran (1975-1988), Mohamad (1979-1985) including the stint as coach of the 1980 Olympic team with Karl Weigang, Rahim (1991) and Bahwandi in futsal (1999-2002).

Hamzah too earned a reputation as a respected youth coach with Kuala Lumpur and Kelantan, while Kam Fook, Fung Kee and Luam Khen went on to earn their coaching badges in Hong Kong.

Jalil whose last posting took him to Simpang Renggam, Johor, as the prison director, passed away in Batu Pahat on Nov 15, 1992 and was buried in Kajang.

While we strive for a better tomorrow, it is never too late to honour our past and yet forgotten heroes.

Even if it is done posthumously.

The writer is an award-winning journalist with three decades of experience under his belt