Tan Sri

Datuk Datuk (or its variant Dato or Datu) is a Malay language, Malay honorific title commonly used in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a traditional title by Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Use of the title various between loc ...

Abdul Ghani bin Minhat ( Jawi: عبدالغني منحت; December 1935 – 28 September 2012) was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who represented

Selangor FA Selangor Football Club ( Malay: ''Kelab Bola Sepak Selangor'') is a professional football club based in the city of Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. The club currently competes in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football. ...

and

Negeri Sembilan FA Negeri Sembilan Football Club (), commonly referred to as Negeri Sembilan or simply NSFC, is a Malaysian professional football club based in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. The club competes in the top division of Malaysian football, the Malaysia ...

from the 1950s to the late 1960s. He played as a striker and winger for both the Malaya and the

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

national teams. He was widely known by the nickname ''Raja Bola'' ("King of Football") and is regarded as one of Malaysia's greatest football players.

Early life

Abdul Ghani Minhat was born on 23 December 1935 in Kampung Solok, Rantau,

Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan''), historically spelled as Negri Sembilan, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia which lies on the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, wes ...

. He began his education at Princess Road School in 1945 at the age of 10. During this time, he represented the school football team, often playing barefoot. In 1947, he enrolled at

St. John's Institution St. John's Institution (abbreviated SJI) or formerly known as St. John's National Secondary School () is a public all-boys school (sixth form is co-ed) and is one of the oldest schools in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The school is widely known by ...

in Kuala Lumpur and continued playing for the school team. In 1951, his talent was noticed by local police officers, who gave him his first pair of football boots. At the time, such equipment was expensive and typically only affordable to professional players.

Career

At the age of 17, his talent was spotted by police officers who invited Abdul Ghani to play for the Police Depot Football Team in the Selangor League. He was assigned to play as a left winger, despite being right-footed, and used the opportunity to develop his left-foot skills. In 1955, Abdul Ghani was selected to play for

Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

as the team aimed to win the HMS Malaya Cup for the first time in six years. Selangor met

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in the 1956 final. Abdul Ghani contributed to Selangor’s 2–1 victory by scoring a goal and was praised by his teammates for his performance. Following the match, he was called up by national coach Neoh Boon Hean to represent the Malaya national team in a friendly against

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

. He continued to play for Selangor in subsequent years, during which the club became one of the most dominant teams in Malaya and Singapore, earning the nickname "The Red Giants." Alongside players such as M. Chandran, Stanley Gabrielle, Robert Choe, and Arthur Koh, Selangor was considered a powerful and formidable side. One of Abdul Ghani’s most valuable experiences came in 1962 when he was sent on attachment to train with several clubs in Europe, including

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

, and

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

. These attachments were part of an effort to provide him with greater exposure and advanced training. In 1967, Abdul Ghani helped Selangor qualify for the inaugural 1967 Asian Club Championship. The team reached the final after defeating Tungsten Mining FC of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. In the final, Selangor lost 2–1 to

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv () is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as football, basketball, w ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

. Despite the loss, Selangor was commended by the

Football Association of Malaysia The Football Association of Malaysia (commonly abbreviated as FAM; ) is the national governing body of football in Malaysia, headquartered at Wisma FAM. The FAM is also one of the founding members of both the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) a ...

for being the first Malaysian team to reach the final of the

Asian Club Championship The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious cl ...

. Abdul Ghani officially retired in 1968, with the 1968 Malaysia Cup final marking his last appearance. Selangor won the match with a decisive 8–1 victory.

International career

Abdul Ghani first played for the Malaya national team when he was named among the 17 players which represent Malaya in the 1956 AFC Asian Cup qualification, together with the youngster Ray Crawford. On 17 March 1956, Abdul Ghani's first appearance with the national team was very impressive when Abdul Ghani scored an amazing seven goals to helping Malaya beat Cambodia 9–2. The following year, he scored his first goal in the first ever edition, inaugural 1957 Pestabola Merdeka from an amazing 40 meters rocket shot against

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

in the tournament held at the Padang TPCA, Princess Road in 1957. But Abdul Ghani was disappointed after failing to win the trophy for his country after

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

emerged as champions. Abdul Ghani managed to overcome his disappointment in 1958 when he helped the national squad won the 1958 Pestabola Merdeka after being the group champions above Hong Kong and Indonesia. Abdul Ghani then helped Malaya to retain the title

Pestabola Merdeka Merdeka Tournament () is an international friendly football tournament held in Malaysia to commemorate the Independence Day. It is mainly played at Independence Stadium, in Kuala Lumpur. "Merdeka" is the Malay word for independence. As of 202 ...

in 1959 after beating

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

2–1. He later received the title 'King of ball' from

Football Association of Selangor The Football Association of Selangor (), also known as FAS, is the governing body of football for the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Administration The FAS mission is governing grassroots, community, social, amateur, and semi-pro football across ...

(FAS), a title later used by anyone to refer to him for his brilliant performance for Malaya. He completed his hat-trick in the 1960 Pestabola Merdeka. Malaya eventually shared the title with Asian Giants,

. On 15 August 1960, he was selected members to form the AFC Asian All-Stars tour of Europe, which never materialized. In 1961, Abdul Ghani help the national team's to won the gold medal in the 1961 SEAP Games (now

SEA Games The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as SEA Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with su ...

) in

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

, the Burmese (now Myanmar) after beating the

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

in the finals. Abdul Ghani helped Malaya to won the 1962 Asian Games bronze medal after beating

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

4–1. After the defunct of Malaya national team in 1963, a combined team with the combination of players from Federation of Malaya and Singapore under the name of new nation,

was proposed by

Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman (8 February 19036 December 1990), commonly referred to as Tunku, was a Malaysian statesman who served as prime minister of Malaysia from 1957 to 1970. He previously served as the only chief minister of Federation of Malaya ...

to compete at the 1963 Merdeka Tournament. Abdul Ghani was selected as the first captain of Malaysia national team. Abdul Ghani officially retired from international football after the

Merdeka Cup Merdeka Tournament () is an international friendly Soccer, football tournament held in Malaysia to commemorate the Independence Day (Malaysia), Independence Day. It is mainly played at Stadium Merdeka, Independence Stadium, in Kuala Lumpur. "Me ...

in 1966.

Coaching career

After his retirement, he was sent to Japan by the

to attend a FIFA Coaching School being the first ever Malaysian to have an official training from FIFA. He finally received his FIFA coaching license in 1969. He was appointed to be the coach the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

in 1969. Abdul Ghani managed the national team on an on-off basis starting from 1969 Merdeka Tournament. His last involvement with the national is at the 1976 Olympic Games qualification in Jakarta. After only coaching the national team, he later coached his favourite team,

in 1970. In 1971, he became the first player and coach to win the

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup (), formerly known as Malaya Cup, is an annual football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popularity as the country's oldest cup tournament, i ...

after being the team coach and also playing in the final and the semi-finals. He again led Selangor Malaysia's Cup victory over

Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...

3–0 in 1972. He then resigned as coach in 1973 because his main concentration was on business instead of coaching. 10 years later, Abdul Ghani returned as coach for

after replacing Chow Kwai Lam in 1983. But his coaching career with Selangor only lasted three seasons after being sacked after failing to help the team win the

in 1985 despite the successful season leading Selangor to win the 1984 Malaysia Cup after a 3–1 victory over

Pahang {{Infobox political division , name = Pahang , official_name = Pahang Darul Makmur , native_name = , settlement_type = States and federal territories of Malaysia, State , image_skyline = , imagesize ...

. After Abdul Ghani left as coach, he returned doing business. In 2004, he returned to Selangor but this time as a Coaching Adviser for the Football Association of Selangor (FAS). He later resigned from the Football Association of Selangor and agreed moved to his birthplace and became a Coaching Adviser for

. He resigned later around 2007 after 2006–07 Season ended.

Death

He died on 28 September 2012, due to the complications after undergoing coronary bypass surgery at National Heart Institute, in Kuala Lumpur. He left behind wife Puan Sri Tengku Aishah Tengku Ibrahim, two sons and two daughters.

Career statistics

International goals

Malaya

:''Scores and results list Malaya's goal tally first.''

Malaysia

:''Scores and results list Malaysia's goal tally first.''

Honours

As player

National Team

; Malaya *

Merdeka Tournament Merdeka Tournament () is an international friendly football tournament held in Malaysia to commemorate the Independence Day. It is mainly played at Independence Stadium, in Kuala Lumpur. "Merdeka" is the Malay word for independence. As of 202 ...

: :: Winners(3): 1958, 1959, 1960 * Southeast Asian Peninsular Games :: Gold Medal:

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

:: Bronze Medal:

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

Club

;

* HMS Malaya Cup: ::Winners(7): 1956, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1968 * FAM Cup ::Winners(6): 1953, 1954, 1960, 1962, 1961, 1962 *

Asian Champion Club Tournament The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious cl ...

: ::Runners-up:

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

Individual

* 1956 AFC Asian Cup qualification top scorer: 10 goals * FAS King of ball (Raja Bola) Award: 1959 *

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Sportsman: 1959 * OCM Hall of Fame: 2004 * FAM Special Award: 2012 * Goal.com The best Malaysia XI of all time: 2020 *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

Men's All Time Malaysia Dream Team: 2022

Records

* Malaya all-time top scorer: 58 goals * The first player from outside Europe and the first player from Asia to reach 50 goals for men's national teams: 15 December 1961 * The fifth player to reach 50 goals for men's national teams after

Imre Schlosser Imre Schlosser (also known as Imre Lakatos; 11 October 1889 – 18 July 1959) was a Hungarian footballer of Danube Swabian ancestry who played as a forward. He still holds the record as the highest goalscorer in the history of the Hungarian Na ...

(1917), Poul Nielsen(1925),

Ferenc Puskás Ferenc Puskás (, ; né Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian footballer and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forward and an attacking ...

(1952) and

Sándor Kocsis Sándor Péter Kocsis (; ; 21 September 1929 – 22 July 1979) was a Hungarian Association football, footballer who played for Ferencvárosi TC, Budapest Honvéd FC, Budapest Honvéd, SC Young Fellows Juventus, Young Fellows Zürich, FC Barcelo ...

(1954): 1961 * The longest international scoring series: 11 Matches in 1961-1962 *One of the four players who had averages more than one goal per match in international and having scored more than 50 goals after Sandor Kocsis with 75 goals in 68 matches (1.1),

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional association football, footballer. A prolific Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarde ...

with 68 goals in 62 matches (1.1) and Poul Nielsen with 52 goals in 38 matches (1.37): 58 goals in 57 matches (1.02) * One of the three players who had scored four goals in a Malaysia Cup final after Lee Ah Loke(1952) and N. Thanabalan(1968): 1963

As head coach

;

: ::Winners(3): 1971, 1972, 1984 ;

King's Cup King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King's Cup (Bahrain), the premier national knockout football tournament * King's ...

: ::Winners(1): 1972 *

: ::Winners(1): 1973 ; Malaysia B * South Vietnam Independence Cup: ::Winners(1): 1971

Orders

* : ** Member of the

Order of the Defender of the Realm The Most Esteemed Order of the Defender of the Realm () is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country. The Order Motto are 'Dipeliharakan Allah-Pangkuan Negara' (By the Grace of God-Defender of the Realm). The o ...

(AMN) (1967) ** MY Darjah Jasa Negara - Order of Meritorious Service - PJN

Commander of the Order of Meritorious Service (PJN) – Datuk (2009) **

Commander of the

Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia The Most Esteemed Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia () is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country and awarded by the sovereign. The order was instituted on 15 April 1966 and gazetted on 30 June 1966 ...

(PSM) – Tan Sri (2012) * : ** MY-PAH Order of the Crown of Pahang - Knight Companion - DIMP

Knight Companion of the

Order of the Crown of Pahang The Esteemed Order of the Crown of Pahang ( Malay: '' Darjah Kebesaran Mahkota Pahang Yang Amat Mulia'') is a knighthood order of the Sultanate of Pahang. History The order was founded by Sultan Abu Bakar on 27 December 1968. It is awarded ...

(DIMP) – Dato' (2000) * : ** MY-SEL Order of Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah - Knight Companion - DSSA