Sayed Khwaja Aziz-ud-Din (12 July 1930 – June 1998), known simply as S. K. Azizuddin, was an Indian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. He competed at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

and the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

. He also captained the national team.

Personal life

Born on 12 July 1930 in Gocha Mahal, during the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, Aziz studied from the infant class to the sixth form at the Government High School, Gocha Mahal. His physical instructor Thakur Rao taught him the rudiments of the game and inspired him to improve his prowess in football.

International career

Syed Khwaja Azizuddin, popularly known as Aziz, played either as full back or center half and was one of the versatile players in Indian football during the 1950s. He was a member of the

India national football team The India national football team represents India in men's international Association football, football and is governed by the All India Football Federation, the governing body for Football in India, football in India. It is a member of FIFA, ...

that won gold medal at the inaugural

1951 Asian Games The 1951 Asian Games, officially known as the First Asian Games (), were a multi-sport event celebrated in New Delhi, India from 4 to 11 March 1951. The Games received names like First Asiad, 1951 Asiad, and New Dehli 1951 (). A total of 489 athl ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. He later participated in 1953 Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament in Rangoon with

Balaidas Chatterjee Balaidas Chatterjee (10 March 1900 – 1974) was an Indian footballer and football manager, who played predominantly as defender. He became the first head coach of the India national team and guided them at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. D ...

managed team, and won the title. In the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, Aziz appeared with the national team that finished in fourth place, losing the bronze-medal match to

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

3–0. He was also captain of the national team, that emerged victories in the ''Quadrangular Tournament'' at

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 ...

, Bangladesh, in 1955. Aziz participated in the

1958 Asian Games The 1958 Asian Games, officially the Third Asian Games () and commonly known as Tokyo 1958 (), were a multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 May to 1 June 1958. It was governed by the Asian Games Federation. A total of 1,820 athletes repr ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, where they finished fourth, losing the bronze-medal match 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, ...

4–1. The next year he traveled to

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 ...

where they took part in 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 ...

, and finished as the tournament runners-up. In national team, Aziz's teammates under coach

Syed Abdul Rahim Syed Abdul Rahim (17 August 1909 – 11 June 1963), popularly known as Rahim Saab, was an Indian football coach and manager of the India national team from 1950 until his death in 1963, and a former player. He is regarded as the architect of m ...

were like:

Ahmed Hussain Ahmad () is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other English spellings of the name include Ahmed. It is also used as a surname. Etymology The word derives from the root ( ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from ...

Peter Thangaraj Havildar Peter Thangaraj (24 December 1935 – 24 November 2008) was an Indian football player and a non-commissioned officer in the Indian Army. Thangaraj played for the Indian national side at the 1956 Melbourne and 1960 Rome Olympics. ...

, Nikhil Nandy,

Samar Banerjee Samar "Badru" Banerjee (; 30 January 1930 – 20 August 2022) was an Indian association football, footballer who played primarily as a striker for the India national football team. He captained India at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, wh ...

P. K. Banerjee Pradip Kumar Banerjee (23 June 1936 – 20 March 2020) was an Indian professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), striker for the India national football team. He also captained the nationa ...

, Kesto Pal, Neville Stephen D'Souza,

Tulsidas Balaram Tulsidas Balaram (30 November 1936 – 16 February 2023), also known as Tulsidas Balaraman, was an Indian association football, footballer. Balaram represented India national football team, India in multiple international tournaments, including ...

, Abdul Latif, Mariappa Kempiah,

Chuni Goswami Subimal "Chuni" Goswami (15 January 1938 – 30 April 2020) was an Indian professional footballer and first-class cricketer. As footballer, he played as a striker or winger, captained both the Mohun Bagan club and the India national te ...

, Kannan,

Mohammed Rahmatullah Mohammad Rahmatullah was an Indian footballer who played as a forward, and manager. Rahmatullah played for the India national team and spent most of his career with Calcutta Football League giant Mohammedan Sporting. He later appeared with ...

Club career

He began his club career with National Sporting Club. From 1949 to 1960, he played for

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

state team in the

Santosh Trophy The National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, or simply Santosh Trophy, is an inter-state national football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF), th ...

. They reached the finals four times, emerging winners in 1956–57 and 1957–58 and runners-up in 1949–50 and 1950–51. On both occasions that Hyderabad won the Santosh Trophy, Aziz played as skipper. When he joined the famed Hyderabad City Police, he came under the able guidance of the famous late

, who improved his techniques and tactical knowledge of the game. In 1951, he represented India for the first time during a tour of the Far East and later helped the country win the gold medal in the Asian Games at Delhi. Since then he was a regular for India till 1959, including tours to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

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, ...

and the Far East and test matches at home against Russia,

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Stockily built Aziz, though not very tall, had superb technique. With a powerful kick on either foot he was known for his deft passing. He was equally adept with either foot and was commanding in the air. He was never flustered and played with a cool head. His positional sense was impeccable and understanding with his colleagues was always of a high calibre. He set up counter attacks with accurate cross-field passes to either flank. Former national team manager

Syed Nayeemuddin Syed Nayeemuddin (born 1944), known as Nayeem, is an Indian football coach and former player. He played for and captained the India national team.

paid the late Aziz the ultimate tribute when he said, "Aziz was like a Brazilian defender, he had such superb skills. Even the great Junior would have looked junior at times to Aziz".

Honours

Hyderabad City Police *

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 ...

: 1950–51, 1954, 1957–58, 1961; runner-up: 1952, 1956–57 *

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 ...

: 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957 India *

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 ...

Gold medal:

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

* Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament:

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

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:

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

Hyderabad *

: 1956–57, 1957–58

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aziz-ud-Din, Sayed Khwaja 1930 births 1998 deaths Footballers from Hyderabad, India Indian men's footballers India men's international footballers Olympic footballers for India Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Men's association football defenders Footballers at the 1951 Asian Games Footballers at the 1954 Asian Games Footballers at the 1958 Asian Games Medalists at the 1951 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games footballers for India Indian emigrants to the United States Asian Games gold medalists in football