SEMBANG LEGENDA – KHALID ALI

(Bahagian 1)

“Dia nampak saya ada banyak stamina. Weigang kata dia akan ‘train’ saya sebagai pemain tugas ‘fetch and carry’. Dia samakan saya dengan pemain Jerman, Overath¹.” – Khalid Ali mengisahkan kepada Legasi Lagenda bagaimana beliau mendapat perhatian jurulatih Karl-Heinz Weigang.

Allahyarham Khalid Ali bersama Shukor Salleh dan Bakri Ibni membentuk “tiga serangkai” midfield skuad kebangsaan yang berjaya layak ke Sukan Olimpik Moscow 1980.

“Semasa bersama Selangor, saya banyak membuat overlapping. Saya akan cross’ ke tengah di mana ada Mokhtar Dahari dan Remeli Junit menunggu. Mungkin dari situ Weigang nampak saya sesuai untuk pasukan kebangsaan sebagai ‘fetch and carry’,” ceritakan lagi Khalid Ali tentang bagaimana jurulatih Karl Weigang mengenal pasti kelebihannya dan menukarkan posisinya dari bek kanan ke pemain tengah (attacking midfielder).

Siapa pernah menonton aksi Khalid di tengah padang atau masih ingat lagi kritikan dan pandangan beliau untuk mempertingkatkan prestasi pasukan Harimau Malaya?

Boleh kongsikan di ruang komen.

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“He noticed that I had a lot of stamina. Weigang said he would train me as a ‘fetch and carry’ player and even compared me to Overath, the German player” –– This is how Khalid Ali recounted to Legasi Lagenda how he caught the attention of coach Karl-Heinz Weigang.

The late Khalid Ali, alongside Shukor Salleh and Bakri Ibni, formed the midfield trio of the national squad that successfully qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.

“I was making overlapping runs since my time with Selangor. I would deliver crosses into the middle, where Mokhtar Dahari and Remeli Junit were waiting. Perhaps that’s when Weigang saw that I was well-suited for the national team as a ‘fetch and carry’ player,” Khalid Ali continued, explaining how coach Karl Weigang identified his strengths and shifted his position from right-back to attacking midfielder.

Did you ever witness Khalid in action on the pitch, or do you recall his insights on how to improve the performance of the Harimau Malaya squad?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below 👇🏼

1. (Wolfgang Overath merupakan pemain ‘attacking midfielder’ Jerman Barat yang pernah beraksi di tiga edisi Piala Dunia: 1966 – naib johan, 1970 – tempat ke-3, 1974 – johan) ↩︎