Abdul Motaleb (footballer)

Abdul Motaleb
Personal information
Full name	Abdul Motaleb Hossain
Date of birth	c. 1950
Place of birth	Dacca, East Bengal, Pakistan (present-day Dhaka, Bangladesh)
Height	24 September 2017 (aged 67)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years	Team
1969–1974	Rahmatganj MFS
1975–1976	Team BJMC
1977–1979	Rahmatganj MFS
1980–1981	Sadharan Bima
1982–1987	Abahani Krira Chakra
International career
1975	Bangladesh U19
1973–1982	Bangladesh
Managerial career
2006–2008	Rahmatganj MFS
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Abdul Motaleb (Bengali: আবদুল মোতালেব; 1950 – 24 September 2017) was a Bangladeshi former football coach and player. He was a member of the first Bangladesh national football team in 1973.

Early life

Abdul Motaleb Hossain was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh.^[1]^[2]

Club career

Motaleb began his Dhaka League career with Rahmatganj MFS in 1969. He participated in India's Bordoloi Trophy with the club in 1973 and was also a member of the team that finished runners-up in both the league and Liberation Cup in 1977. Motaleb won Sher-e-Bangla Cup with the Dhaka District three consecutive times from 1973 to 1975.^[3]

In 1982, Motaleb joined Abahani Krira Chakra and in the same year scored in the tie-breaker against Team BJMC in the Federation Cup semi-final. Motaleb went on to win the league title with Abahani for three consecutive seasons from 1983 to 1985.^[4] He also participated in the 1985–86 Asian Club Championship with the club.^[5]

International career

Motaleb was a member of the first national team selected by coach Sheikh Shaheb Ali in 1973 for the Merdeka Cup held in Malaysia. During the tournament he was used as a second choice goalkeeper to Shahidur Rahman Shantoo.^[6]^[7]

On 13 August 1973, following the tournament's conclusion, Bangladesh played a friendly against Singapore, and defeated the hosts 1–0 to secure the nations first ever victory in international football. During the game, Motaleb saved a penalty from Singapore, and also recorded the country's first ever cleansheet in international football.^[5]

In 1975, Motaleb participated in the 1975 AFC Youth Championship and also represented the senior team during its second time participating in the Merdeka Cup. An aging Motaleb was made captain of the national team for the 1982 Asian Games; however, after making consecutive blunders which led to goals in the tournament's opening game against India, he was replaced by teenage goalkeeper, Mohamed Mohsin for the rest of the games.^[3]

Coaching career

Motaleb took advanced training as a goalkeeping coach in Brazil (1995), Germany (1998) and Malaysia (1993).^[8] He eventually served as the goalkeeping coach of the national team from 1993 to 2000.^[9] In 2007, he served as the head coach of Rahmatganj MFS during the inaugural season of the Bangladesh Premier League.^[10]

Exhibition match

On 24 January 2008, Motaleb participated in an exhibition football match between former star footballers of India and Bangladesh at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.^[11]

Death

On 24 September 2017, Motaleb died after suffering a cardiac arrest.^[12]^[13]

Honours

Abahani Krira Chakra

Dhaka League: 1983, 1984, 1985
Federation Cup: 1982, 1985, 1986

References

^ "Ex-nat'l goalie Motaleb dies". New Age. 25 September 2017. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024.
^ "2017 In Review: The ones we lost". Dhaka Tribune. 16 February 2018. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024.
^ ^a ^b "চিরবিদায় নিলেন জাতীয় ফুটবল দলের সাবেক দলনায়ক খ্যাতিমান কিপার মোতালেব". Kiron's Sport Desk (in Bengali). 24 September 2017. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024.
^ "না ফেরার দেশে গোলরক্ষক মোতালেব" (in Bengali). 24 September 2017. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024.
^ ^a ^b Iqbal, Niar (September 25, 2017). "বাংলাদেশের যে 'গোলরক্ষক' গোলও করতেন". Prothomalo. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024.
^ "১৯৭৩ সালে যাদের হাত ধরে বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় ফুটবল দলের পথ চলা শুরু হয়েছিলো". Kiron's Sports Desk (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
^ Zubaear, Arafat. "ফুটবলের ৫০ বছর : প্রথম দলের ১৭ জনের কে কোথায়". dhakapost.com (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 26 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
^ "জাতীয় ফুটবল দলের সাবেক অধিনায়ক মোতালেব আর নেই". Risingbd (in Bengali). 24 September 2017. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024.
^ "আরেক খ্যাতিমান ফুটবলারকে হারাল বাংলাদেশ". MTnews24. September 24, 2017. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024.
^ "RMFS, Khulna Abahani have similar targets". archive.thedailystar.net. 29 January 2007. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024.
^ "Veterans fire blank". The Daily Star. January 25, 2008. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024.
^ "Goalie Motaleb no more". The Daily Star. September 25, 2017. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024.
^ "গোলরক্ষক মোতালেব আর নেই". www.kalerkantho.com. September 6, 2017. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024.

Bibliography

Alam, Masud (2017). ফুটবলের গল্প ফুটবলারদের গল্প (transl. The story of football the story of footballers) (in Bengali). Bishhoshahitto Bhobon. ISBN 9789849134688.
Dulal, Mahmud (2020). খেলার মাঠে মুক্তিযুদ্ধ (transl. Liberation war in the playground) (in Bengali). Bishhoshahitto Bhobon. ISBN 978-984-8218-31-0.