Bhubaneswar: There are many of this generation who probably will not be able to associate themselves with the legendary footballer Ahmed Khan who breathed his last Sunday afternoon at Bangalore. The former India and East Bengal player passed away after being bedridden for the last five-six years due to age-related health problems. With his passing away, an era ended in Indian football.
Ahmed was an integral part of the Indian football team who played in the 1948 London Olympics and the 1952 Helsinki Games. He was a part of the barefoot brigade who dazzled the world with his ball skills. Ahmed was also the key component of East Bengal’s famous ‘Pancha Pandava’ – a forward line comprising of others greats, Appa Rao, Saleh, Dhanraj and Venkatesh.
Those days there were no TV cameras perched at different parts of the ground, so Ahmed’s skills with the ball were never recorded. Folklore has it that he once dribbled past eight players to score a goal in a Kolkata league game. Such was his ball control that fans used to fondly call him ‘snake charmer’ someone who could make the ball talk with his feet.
“Ahmed Saab was an icon in the true sense of the word,” stated another great player of yesteryears, Chuni Goswami. Old timers pay glowing tribute to Goswami’s ball skills, but the man himself is the first to admit that he learnt the tricks of the trade by watching his revered Ahmed Saab.
“His ball control was amazing and he could control the game at will. He always wanted others to score, so frequently he would dribble past three-four players and then pass the ball to an unmarked rate. It was sheer joy to watch him,” Goswami added.
Goswami also pointed out that the couple of times, he played with Ahmed while representing Bengal, he was astounded by the latter’s vision about the game. “The first time I played with him was 1958. Ahmed Saab was captaining Bengal and the first thing he told me was ‘a forward never wastes time once he loses the ball to opposition defenders. He should immediately rush back to help his own defence mates’. Remember he was talking about total football in 1958,” Goswami pointed out.
Another doyen of Indian football, PK Bannerjee summed up Ahmed in just one sentence. “There will never be another player like him… ever in India,” asserted Bannerjee.
Ahmed was, a member of India’s gold medal-winning football team at the first Asian Games in 1951. He scored three goals in the two Olympics he played.
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