Abid Ghazi

Abid Hussain Ghazi (; 1934 – 14 January 2016) was a Pakistani footballer who played as a midfielder. He is considered one of the greatest Pakistani footballers of the 1950s and 1960s, and also captained the Pakistan national football team.

Early life Ghazi hailed from Keamari locality of Karachi in British India. He belonged to the Makrani Baloch community (also known as Sheedi) of Sudanese descent. He then represented Karachi in 1954 at the National Football Championship. He also toured India with Karachi Kickers the next year.

Victoria SC In 1958, Ghazi played for Dhaka club Victoria SC in the inaugural edition of the Aga Khan Gold Cup. During his stay in the Dhaka League in the ensuing years, he also represented East Pakistan and Dacca Division at the National Football Championship. Ghazi represented the East Pakistan football team at the 1958 National Football Championship held in Multan. The team captained by Nabi Chowdhury made a surprising exit from the tournament in the quarter-finals after losing 1–3 to Punjab Red.

Dhaka Mohammedan Ghazi with Dhaka Mohammedan in 1963He also featured for Dhaka Mohammedan club in East Pakistan between 1958 and 1965. In 1959, he was an integral part of the Mohammedan team that defeated Karachi Municipal Corporation to lift the 1959 Aga Khan Gold Cup. The following year, he again lifted the 1960 edition trophy, this time with Kolkata Mohammedan.

Later career In 1966, he represented Dhaka Wanderers, PWD in 1967–1968, and Dilkusha in 1969.

International career Ghazi was first selected in 1956 touring countries like Sri Lanka, China, Hong Kong with the national team, Ghazi later featured in the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo with the Pakistan national team under the captaincy of Nabi Chowdhury. Ghazi was also among the players present in the 1960 Asian Cup qualifiers hosted by India in Ernakulam in 1959, where Pakistan faced Iran, India and Israel twice each in the qualifiers. He was also selected for the 1960 Merdeka Tournament in Malaya under the captainship of Qayyum Changezi. After the tournament ended, Ghazi was selected for the Eastern/Western Zones Combined football team for the proposed Asian All-Stars tour of Europe, which ultimately never materialised. Other Pakistan players selected for the combined team included Hussain Killer, Qayyum Changezi, Ghulam Rabbani, and Moosa Ghazi.

When the Burma national team visited Pakistan for a friendly series in 1961, Abid played alongside his brother Moosa Ghazi, where the latter also captained the national team in one of the matches. Ghazi also featured with Pakistan at the 1962 Merdeka Tournament, where Pakistan finished runner-ups after falling against Indonesia in the final.

In 1963, he featured in a four-match friendly series against China in their tour to Pakistan, and after a few months served as vice-captain behind Mohammad Amin at the 1964 Summer Olympics qualification. In his last year with the national team, Abid captained the national squad in an away friendly against China in October 1964, and later during Soviet Union based club Neftyanik tour to Pakistan a month later. He began representing the club as player-cum-coach in the Dhaka First Division League from 1970.

Personal life and death Abid's brother Moosa Ghazi was also a footballer who played for the Pakistan national team. After the fall of Dhaka in 1971, both were arrested by the Indian Army and made prisoners of war. In December 2015, Pakistani singer Fakhar-e-Alam tweeted on his Twitter handle that Ghazi's son sold all his belongings for his father's treatment, and that he was in his poorest condition. He died soon after on 14 January 2016, at the age of 81. His situation also matched with former Pakistan national team captains such as Muhammad Umer, Abdul Ghafoor, Qadir Bakhsh, and his brother Moosa, who died enduring similar hardship.