KUALA LUMPUR: MALAYSIAN football suffered the heartbreak of unexpectedly losing three icons over three straight days.
After the legendary Khalid Ali died of cancer at the age of 66 on Tuesday this week, former international Moey Kok Hong died of heart complications at the age of 56 yesterday.
And even before the football community could come to terms with the deaths of Khalid Ali and Kok Hong, Azraai Khor Abdullah died today at the age of 71 after suffering a stroke.
Azraai, whose birth name was Khor Sek Leng, was among the rare Malaysian footballers who had a successful career as a player and coach.
Azraai had the rare distinction of becoming the only Malaysian coach to achieve the double treple when he led Kedah to sweeping all the titles in Malaysian football in 2007 and 2008.
Azraai and Khalid Ali were both active football commentators and up to last month, they were still giving their views on the national team playing in the Asian Cup in Doha, Qatar.
Azraai started as a midfielder with the Kedah team in 1970 and featured for the national team between 1975 and 1978.
He was also part of the Malaysia team that won the Merdeka Cup and King's Cup in 1976, playing alongside greats like Mokhtar Dahari, Shukor Salleh, Santokh Singh, Soh Chin Aun and R. Arumugam.
Irfan Bakti Abu Salim, who was Azraai's roommate during the 1976 Asian Cup in Tehran, recalled his dear friend as a skilful player.
Irfan said Azraai's contribution to Kedah football — he won the treble of Malaysia Cup, FA Cup and League titles for two seasons in a row in 2007-2008, should not be forgotten.
"I'm sad to hear that he has passed away. I was his teammate for 10 days during the Asian Cup. He was a nice person, soft spoken and we got on well.
"As a player, he was nippy and skilful playing in midfield, mostly on the right side.
"His contribution to Kedah football is immense. He won the treble with a young squad, his achievements will forever be in the history books."
Azraai's coaching career began with Kedah's President Cup squad in 1991 when he was 39. He later served as a member of the tactical team under Kedah head coach, Robert Alberts, in 1993.
Azraai's knack for working with young talent saw him become the head coach of the national Harimau Muda squad in 2010.
In 2011, Azraai became the new head coach of Negri Sembilan and guided the unfancied side to the Malaysia Cup crown, beating Terengganu 2–1 in the final.
He also coached Perak, T-Team, Kelantan and Sabah.
The jovial Azraai was also multi-lingual, and able to speak Tamil fluently. This had made him an articulate communicator.
Former Harimau Muda skipper K. Gurusamy said Azraai had made a big difference to his career.
"Coach Azraai took over our team and he came as the best coach in Malaysia following his treble success with Kedah.
"He was an excellent tactician and very knowledgeable," said Gurusamy.
"I talked to him a lot during our time in Slovakia and learned a lot. We kept in touch and it's hard to accept that he is not around anymore."
Former international Baddrol Bakhtiar, who is now Gurun assemblyman, is considered as Azraai's most outstanding protege.
Baddrol said he will miss the football updates from his beloved mentor.
"I won't get messages from Azraai anymore... he was constantly in touch with me and updated me on football development in Kedah.
"He was very concerned about Kedah's football especially at grassroots level.
"His last message to me was to hold on to my principle and take care of Kedah's sports."
