Shabbir Ali: The Hyderabadi footballer who represented city’s golden era of the sport

By Abhijit Sen Gupta Hyderabad:  There was a time when Hyderabad used to be the nursery of Indian football. Dozens of talented players sprung up from this region and went on to represent the country with distinction.
They were like colourful flowers in a verdant field. India’s most successful coach ever, S.A.Rahim was also from Hyderabad.  But sadly that Golden era has ended. Various reasons have contributed to the drying up of talent.  One among the last generation of famous footballers from Hyderabad is Shabbir Ali who will be celebrating his 65th birthday today on January 26.
He was born on an auspicious day – on Republic Day –  in 1956. Shabbir Ali showed precocious talent as a young boy and as he grew up, he honed this talent into lethal skills on the football field. During the 1970s and 1980s, Shabbir Ali was rated as the best player in India and the finest striker of his time. He was a prolific goal scorer who was unstoppable when playing near the box.  The ace footballer that he was, Shabbir Ali excelled both at the national and international level. One of his early successes came when he captained India to victory in the Asian Youth Championships in Bangkok jointly with Iran in 1974.