Legendary footballer Ahmed Khan no more; passes away at the age of 90

Bengaluru: Double Olympian and one of the biggest and brightest stars in Indian football history, Ahmed Khan passed away at the age of 90 in his residence on Sunday. He is survived by his wife, son and daughter.

Starting his career under his father’s tutelage in Bangalore Crescents, the fleet-footed attacker rose to prominence playing for Bangalore Muslims before making waves at East Bengal. 

So big was his impact that the club, which transformed into a force to be reckoned with in Kolkata, named him the Player of the Millennium.

His 11 years with the Red and Gold brigade, where he became one of the ‘Five Pandavas’ along with Dhanraj, Appa Rao, Venkatesh and Saleh, saw the club stash their cabinets with practically all the major national trophies in 1950s. They won the IFA Shield, Kolkata League, Rovers Cup and became the first Indian club to win the Durand Cup at that time. Their success also opened opportunities for the club to tour Europe where Khan often stood out and garnered praise from the opposition.

He was nicknamed ‘Snake Charmer’ by the English after the 1948 Olympics, because of his silken touch and outlandish close control which deceived even the most surefooted of defenders.

“He was a wizard. His ball control was absolutely unbelievable. For years, he was a reference point at East Bengal. Club officials used to tell players, ‘We can't pay you so much because we pay Ahamed so much,’” remembered senior football journalist Novy Kapadia. 

At the international level, Khan represented the country in 1948 and 1952 Olympics. His international success came in the 1951 Asian Games in Delhi where he led the team to gold and even assisted the winning goal against Iran in the final.  The maverick forward and his men were unable to repeat the same four years later.

Generally considered the first superstar of Indian football, it was ironically the shift from barefoot era to boot-only one that provided the biggest challenge for the Karnataka-born star. 

Unstoppable during the earlier era, he slowly faded out.  He once described it in his typical straight-faced nonchalance as “Barefoot I could weave past five or six players but the boot needed getting used to. I think it was the studs.”