A Football Family's Bittersweet Eid Without Their Star Player
KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 (Bernama) -- The ancestral home at Lorong Keramat Dalam Satu, in the heart of the capital Kuala Lumpur, holds sweet memories for the family of the late Khalid Ali every time Aidifitri arrives.
However, this year is different for his elder brother, Hanafiah, who misses the banter and jokes of the former national football player, Khalid.
It's the first Eid celebration for the famous football family without Khalid, who breathed his last on Feb 6 at the age of 66, after nearly a year of battling lung cancer.
Khalid was part of the core of the Malaysian team that qualified for the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games.
He formed a midfield trio with Shukor Salleh and Bakri Ibni, driving the team's engine under the guidance of coaches Karl-Heinz Weigang and Mohammad Bakar.
But behind Khalid's prominent role in the national squad, he looked up to Hanafiah for inspiration.
More than two months after Khalid's passing, Hanafiah's longing for his brother envelops him, especially since their bond was so close, particularly under the umbrella of the National Athletes Welfare Foundation (YAKEB).
"Yes, it's difficult. Sad, I can't even describe it. Miss him ... Whenever there's an event involving former players or YAKEB, he always took me along," he said recently.
Khalid and Hanafiah weren't the only ones carrying the family banner in Malaysian football, as their siblings Abdul Rahman Ali and Datuk Zainal Abidin Hassan were also deeply involved.
They were raised under one roof and shared the same interest, each having worn the jerseys of Selangor and Harimau Malaya during the country's football heyday.
Today, their ancestral home remains a gathering place for four generations, but without Khalid's entertaining presence, it simply lacks the spark of previous Eid celebrations.
-- BERNAMA
