Former Malaysia's Asia Cup goalie Abdul Hamid Ramli dies

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's football squad goalkeeper for the Asia Cup 1976 and 1980, Abdul Hamid Ramli died of heart complications early today.

He was 68.

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) in a posting on Facebook confirmed the death of the former national goalkeeper.

"Our deepest condolences to the family of Abdul Hamid. May Allah bless and place his soul among the righteous. Like his teammates, the late Datuk R. Arumugam, the late Ong Yu Tiang and the late Peter Rajah, Abdul Hamid had done well in defending the national goal.

"He was initially called to join the national squad by the late Jalil Che Din in 1975 and was chosen as the second goalkeeper to Arumugam in the final of Asia Cup in Iran in 1976," it said.

Abdul Hamid eventually become the country's main goalkeeper in 1979 and helped the Harimau Malaya squad advance to the final of the 1980 Asia Cup in Kuwait, win the Pestabola Merdeka tournament in 1979 and bag the gold medal at the SEA Games the same year.

Due to work commitment, Abdul Hamid had to withdraw himself from the national pre-Olympic squad in 1980.

In the domestic league, he was a member of the Kelantan squad, together with Nik Fauzi Hassan, Mahadi Yussof, Kamaruddin Mohd Nor, Yassin Mohd Noor, Nik Salleh Nik Man and Ramli Abdullah, and had replaced Awang Isa as the main goalkeeper for the Kelantan team from 1974 until he moved to Sarawak in 1985.

Abdul Hamid and his mentor Mohamed Che Su, who is also a former national coach, spent two seasons in Sarawak before returning to Kelantan and announcing his retirement to concentrate as goalkeeper coach for several teams, including Kelantan, Armed Forces, KM Naza, Royal Malaysia Police and Negeri Sembilan

In KOTA BHARU, Abdul Hamid's fourth son, Mohd Zaki said his father had been struggling with heart disease over the past three years breathed his last at home in Kampung Jalan Tok Kenali, Kubang Kerian at 3.24 am today.

"He was laid to rest at the Tanjong Chat Muslim cemetery at 11 am, he said when contacted.

Abdul Hamid leaves behind a wife Fatimahwato Dahlan and eight children.

Meanwhile, Kelantan United Football Club (KUFC) in a statement described Abdul Hamid's death as a huge loss for the team and the national football industry as a whole.

"He was a strong-willed person, a legend. Despite struggling with heart disease, he was always in contact with the team to learn about our development.

"We will surely miss his advice and we pray that Allah will bless his soul and place him among the righteous and the pious," it said.

-- BERNAMA