Muhammad Umer Baloch TI FIFAOM (; 1935 – 21 March 2004), alternatively spelled Mohammad Omer and popularly known as Captain Umer, was a Pakistani professional footballer who played as a striker. Renowned for his goal-scoring abilities, prolific finishing, and

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

s, he is widely considered as one of the greatest Pakistani footballers of all time. Since 1965, Umer is the all-time top goalscorer of the Pakistan national team. Starting his sport career in clubs in Karachi, Umer later represented

Kolkata Mohammedan Mohammedan Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as Mohammedan, is an Indian multi-sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club is best known for their professional men's football section which competes in the Indian Super League, the t ...

in the late 1950s. In his first year, he became the

Calcutta League The Calcutta Football League (CFL) is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of West Bengal, organised by the Indian Football Association (WB) as part of the state leagues. It is the oldest football league in Asia. The CFL ...

's top scorer, while also guiding Mohammedan to the title, also captaining the side to win the 1960

Aga Khan Gold Cup The Aga Khan Gold Cup was a tournament played in Dhaka, Bangladesh which invited the club sides from leading football nations of Asia to compete. Many renowned football pundits regard this competition as a predecessor of the AFC Champions League ...

. He continued his professional career in various clubs in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

, winning various titles across his spells. Despite the fact that most of his goals are unregistered, Umer has reportedly scored around 1,000 goals in domestic football. Umer represented the

Pakistan national football team The Pakistan national football team () represents Pakistan in men's international Association football, football in FIFA-authorized events and is controlled by the Pakistan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Pakistan. Paki ...

from 1956 to 1965, and was the country's 13th international captain. He also represented Pakistan at the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games. Under his captaincy, he helped the side finish runner-ups at the 1962 Merdeka Tournament. In recognition of his contributions to the sport of football, Umer was honored with the

Tamgha-e-Imtiaz Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (), also spelled as Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, is a state-organised honour of Pakistan. It is given to any civilian in Pakistan based on their achievements. While it is a civilian/military award, it can be bestowed upon officers of the ...

in 1989. In 2004, a few months after his death he was awarded the

FIFA Order of Merit The FIFA Order of Merit is the highest honour awarded by FIFA. The award is presented at the annual FIFA congress. It is normally awarded to people who are considered to have made a significant contribution to :association football. At FIFA's ce ...

, the highest honour awarded by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

Early life

Umer was born in Gul Muhammad Lane, in the

Lyari Lyari (Urdu: ; ; Balochi: لێاری) is a historic locality in Karachi, Pakistan. It is the most densely populated part of Karachi, and is one of its earliest settled areas. History Lyari is said to be one of the oldest inhabited parts of Kar ...

locality of

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

in 1935. He belonged to the ''Makrani Baloch'' community (also known as Sheedi) of African descent. Initially rising through the ranks from school football, Umer began his career in 1948, aged 13, as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for Karachi-based Qadri Sports. However, his attacking ability soon saw him convert into a

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

, eventually earning the nickname ''"Black Horse"''.

Club career

Early career

In 1950, Umer debuted for Haroon Sons in Karachi's Abu Bakr Tournament against Quetta. He also represented the

Karachi Municipal Corporation Karachi Metropolitan Corporation () is a public corporation and governing body to provide municipal services in most of Karachi, the capital of Sindh. History 1846 Karachi Conservancy Board was established to control cholera epidemics in ...

football team. In 1954, he toured southern India with Friends Union. During the tour, Umer's team became runners-up in the All-India Chakola Trophy, earning him a spot on Karachi's team for the National Football Championship in 1955 held in

Bahawalpur Bahawalpur (Urdu: ; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 13th largest city of Pakistan and List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, 8th most populous city of Punjab. Bahawalpur is the capital of Bahawalpur Division. Founded in ...

Karachi Kickers

His success in the National Football Championship with Karachi led him to join

Karachi Kickers Karachi Kickers is a Pakistani football club based in Karachi. Karachi United competed in the Karachi Football League, one of the top leagues of Karachi. It last competed in the 2009–10 PFF League. The club was one of the most successful te ...

, winning several regional and invitational tournaments. In the same year, he again toured India, earning acclaim for scoring six goals in a game in

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...

and achieving a hat-trick in

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

, as reported by local Indian newspapers.

Kemari Mohammedan

Umer represented East Pakistan in the National Football Championship in 1956, and in the same year, went on his third Indian tour with Kemari Mohammedan, finishing runners-up to

Hyderabad Police Hyderabad City Police is the local law enforcement agency for the city of Hyderabad, Telangana and is headed by the Commissioner of Police. The city police traces its origins to 1847 under Hyderabad State. History 1847–1948 The Nizam of Hydera ...

. During the tournament, he also scored eight goals in a single game against Maharashtra FC, earning praise and sparking interest from Indian clubs.

Kolkata Mohammedan

In 1956, Umer joined

club

in India. In 1957 he became the league's top scorer, while also guiding Mohammedan to the title. In 1960, Mohammedan captained by Umer, won the

held in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

(now

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

), where they defeated Indonesian club

PSM Makassar Persatuan Sepakbola Makassar ( 'Football Association of Makassar') commonly referred to as PSM Makassar, is an Indonesian professional football club based in Makassar, South Sulawesi that competes in Liga 1. PSM was founded in 1915 as , ma ...

4–1, with Umer scoring twice. Umer enjoyed star status during his stay in India, and featured in several magazine headlines and advertisements of companies in the country media. He was admired by then Indian prime minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

and

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

actor

Dilip Kumar Dilip Kumar (born Muhammad Yusuf Khan; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021) was an Indian actor and film producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated Hindi cinema from the 1950s throughout t ...

, who reportedly insisted Umer to stay in India, although in the end he left Mohammedan in the early 1960s and returned to Pakistan.

Victoria SC

Tunku Abdul Rahman distributing the 1962 Aga Khan Gold Cup trophy to Muhammad Umer

In 1961, Umer returned to Pakistan joining East Pakistan-based

Victoria Sporting Club Victoria Sporting Club (), commonly known as Victoria SC, is a football club based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Founded in 1903, the club competes in the Dhaka Second Division League, the fourth tier of football in Bangladesh. They were relegated from ...

. Umer led Victoria to both the Dhaka First Division League and the

title in 1962 as coach-cum-captain. He scored twice as Victoria triumphed 5–1 over Young Taegeuk FA in the Aga Khan Gold Cup final. Umer also won the National Championship with Dacca Division in both the 1961/62 and 1962 seasons, captaining the team in the latter. On 1 July 1964, Umer set up a scoring record, after netting 10 of the 13 goals against

Wari Club Dhaka Wari Club () is an association football club from Dhaka, Bangladesh. It currently competes in the Bangladesh Championship League (BCL). Wari Club is the oldest football club in Bangladesh, established in 1898. The club's motto is ''One heart on ...

in the First Division in a 13–0 victory.

Dhaka Wanderers

In 1963, Dhaka Wanderers formed a strong team to participate in the Aga Khan Gold Cup, acquiring Umer along with national teammates

Ghulam Abbas Baloch Ghulam Abbas Baloch (October 1942 – 4 April 2014), was a Pakistani professional footballer who played as a winger. Abbas represented the Pakistan national football team from 1961 to 1963. Early life Abbas grew up in a poor family in Saifi Lan ...

Abdul Ghafoor ʻAbd al-Ghaffār (ALA-LC romanization of ) is a male Muslim given name, and, in modern usage, surname, built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and '' al-Ghaffār'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to the Muslim theophoric nam ...

, Abdullah Rahi, Yousuf Jr., and

Yousuf Sr. Muhammad Yousuf (1939 – 19 May 2021) commonly known as Yousuf Sr. or Yousuf Senior, was a Pakistani Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), right winger. Early life Yousuf was born in Gul Muhammad Lan ...

. from defending champions Victoria, who had withdrawn from the tournament. After defeating Police AC, Nepal XI, Pakistan Western Railway and

Indonesia XI Indonesia XI (also known as Indonesia Selection, Indonesia All-Stars, Indonesia Dream Team or Liga Selection) is a football team which represents the Indonesian top-tier league. Indonesia XI mainly plays friendly matches against foreign clubs. Ma ...

in the semi-final, the club eventually lost 1–2 to

Pakistan Railways Pakistan Railways is the state-owned railway operator in Pakistan. Founded in 1861 as the North Western State Railway and headquartered in Lahore, it owns of operational track across Pakistan, stretching from Peshawar to Karachi, offering bot ...

, with Umer being the only scorer in the final. On August 14, he represented the team in the Independence Day Football Tournament final against

Dhaka Mohammedan Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited is a Bangladeshi professional football club based in Dhaka. Founded in 1936, it is one of the oldest and the most successful football club in the country, with a support base in all parts of the country. Th ...

, receiving a red card after deliberately stomping on Mohammedan goalkeeper Balai Dey as both teams shared the trophy. He eventually joined the club on a permanent deal in 1966.

International career

Early years (1956–1960)

Pakistan National Football Team at the 1960 Merdeka Tournament

Umer first toured with the Pakistan national team to

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

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 ...

, and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in 1956. He later represented Pakistan at the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games. The next , he participated in the 1959 tour to

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 ...

and the 1960 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, where he scored a hat-trick against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in a 4–1 victory. He also managed to score during a 2–2 draw with

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. The qualifying tournament held in

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

, India, also saw Pakistan earn a notable victory over

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, nonetheless, failed to qualify for the main stage, finishing third out of four teams. At the 1960 Merdeka Tournament, he scored twice in a record 7–0 win against

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and helped the team reach the semifinal where Pakistan lost to hosts

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 ...

Captaincy (1962–1965)

In the 1962 edition of the Merdeka Tournament, Pakistan reached the final under Umer's captaincy, ultimately losing to

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, ...

. Umer also captained Pakistan during

's football tour in Pakistan in 1963. The first test in

in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) ended in a 0–0 tie. The second match in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

ended in a 3–2 victory for Umer's side, with the third fixture in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

ending in another 1–1 draw. The final fourth match in

ended in a 2–0 defeat for Pakistan. In 1965, Umer captained the national team in a tour to

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, scoring a goal in a 1–3 defeat against the Ceylon national team. He lastly captained the team at his last tour at the

1965 RCD Cup The 1965 RCD Cup was the first edition of the RCD Cup. The event was held at the Amjadieh Stadium in Tehran, Iran. This was a three nation tournament played in league format between Iran, Pakistan and Turkey. Venue Results Matches ---- ...

, where he scored in a 1–4 defeat against Iran in his last official match. After featuring in test matches against FC Alga from the Soviet Union in 1966, Umer was dropped in March 1967 due to his declining form attributed to age, ahead of a series of matches against a touring Saudi Arabian side.

Post-playing career

Following his retirement from playing, Umer continued his involvement in football as a coach. From 1971 to 1974, he served on Sindh's football selection committee while also coaching the Karachi Municipal Corporation from 1971 to 1985, and later the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board team. In recognition of his contributions to the sport, Umer was honored with the

in 1989.

Death

Umer, who spent most his final decades in abject poverty, died on 21 March 2004. He was buried at the

Mewa Shah graveyard Mewa Shah Graveyard () is located in SITE Town, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, and is one of the largest and oldest graveyards of Karachi. This graveyard is spread over 1,000 acres and runs alongside the Lyari River. It has the graves of Muslims, Chr ...

in Karachi. A few months later, FIFA reportedly decided to award Umer with the

in recognition of his contributions to football. The award was to be presented to his family by Pakistan Football Federation president

Faisal Saleh Hayat Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat (; born 21 July 1952) is a Pakistani politician from Jhang, Punjab and sports administrator. Early life and education Born into a feudal Shi'a family, Hayat is the alleged Sajjada nashin (lineal descendant and ...

Career statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list Pakistan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Umer goal.''

Honours

Pakistan *

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 ...

runner-up:

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 ...

Karachi Kickers *

Sait Nagjee Football Tournament The Sait Nagjee All India Football Tournament was an invitational Association football, football tournament held in Kozhikode, Kerala. The tournament was very popular from the beginning and attracted large crowd since 1952. The tournament was pla ...

: 1955, Kolkata Mohammedan *

: 1957 **runners-up: 1960 *

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is a football competition organized by the Indian Football Association, the football governing body in the Indian state of West Bengal. The IFA came into existence in 1893, and was named after the association. The IFA Shield to ...

: 1957 *

: 1960 *

Durand Cup The Durand Cup (also called the IndianOil Durand Cup Powered by Coal India Limited for sponsorship reasons) is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Annadale, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Hosted by the ...

runners-up: 1959 *

Rovers Cup The Rovers Cup was an annual football tournament held in India, organized by the Western India Football Association. Incorporated in 1890, it was the third oldest tournament in India after Trades Cup. History Rovers Cup was incorporated by s ...

: 1956, 1959 ** runners-up: 1957, 1958 *

DCM Trophy The Delhi Cloth Mills Trophy, known simply as D.C.M. Trophy, was an invitational football tournament in India. It was held annually in New Delhi and was organised by the Delhi Cloth Mills tournament committee. It was India's first football tourn ...

: 1958 **runners-up: 1960 Victoria SC * Dhaka First Division League: 1962, 1964 ** runners-up: 1961 *

: 1962 *

Independence Day Football Tournament The Independence Day Football Tournament, alternatively known as the Pakistan Day Football Tournament or the Azadi Day Football Tournament was a knock-out men's association football tournament held in Dhaka, East Pakistan by the East Pakistan S ...

(2): 1962, 1964 ** runners-up: 1965 Dhaka Wanderers * Dhaka First Division League: runners-up (1): 1963 * Independence Day Tournament (1): 1963 *

(1): 1963 Dacca Division * National Football Championship: 1961–62, 1962 Individual *1957 − Calcutta League top scorer *1989 −

*2004 −

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Umer, Muhammad 1935 births 2004 deaths Pakistani men's footballers Pakistan men's international footballers Footballers from Karachi People from Lyari Town Mohammedan SC (Kolkata) players Victoria Sporting Club players Dhaka Wanderers Club players Men's association football forwards Pakistani expatriate men's footballers Pakistani expatriate sportspeople in India Calcutta Football League players Expatriate men's footballers in India Footballers at the 1958 Asian Games Asian Games footballers for Pakistan Recipients of Tamgha-e-Imtiaz 20th-century Pakistani sportsmen Burials at Mewa Shah Graveyard