Datuk Zainal Abidin Hassan bin Mohd Ali (born 9 November 1961) is a Malaysian football coach and former player.

Playing career A versatile footballer who could play in multiple positions, Zainal Abidin is considered one of the best Malaysian footballers in the 80's and 90's. He began his football career in 1980 as a defender at Selangor FA. At only 18 years of age, Zainal made his international debut in the 1980 Merdeka Tournament against Indonesia.Only 19 yet so cool. - New Sunday Times, 26 October 1980 (Page 82). He played alongside legendary Malaysian footballers Mokhtar Dahari, R Arumugam, Soh Chin Aun and other recognised faces in Malaysian football. In 1983 Pahang FA head coach Frank Lord changed Zainal's position to a striker. This is where his career began to blossom, becoming one of the most respected strikers at the local and international level.

From the late 80's to early 90's, he regularly partnered with Dollah Salleh in front as they became a fierce striker partnership for Selangor FA and Pahang FA in M-League and also the national team in SEA Games, Asian Games and Merdeka Tournament. In the 1996 AFF Championship, Zainal Abidin was awarded the title of MVP of the tournament, captaining the national team from the centre-back position instead of his usual striking role. Three years later he was awarded the AFC Century Club Award.

During his international career, Zainal scored a total of 78 goals in 180 appearances for Malaysia (including non-FIFA 'A' international matches), according to Globe Soccer Awards in 2020. Against other nations' national 'A' teams, he scored 50 goals in 129 appearances.

He also played for the Malaysia national futsal team, and was in the squad that took part in the 1996 FIFA Futsal World Championship in Spain.1996 FIFA Futsal World Championship-Malaysia - FIFA

On 3 August 2021, he was inducted into the FIFA Century Club.

Coaching career He retired from football in 1999 and was selected to coach the Malaysian youth in 2001. In 2002, he was selected as the assistant coach for the Malaysia senior team. He later coached Pahang FA and brought them their first Malaysia Super League title. In 2006, he guided Pahang FA to win the Malaysian FA Cup. After the contract with Pahang FA ended, he reunited with his former striker partner Dollah Salleh while serving as manager and coach for Shahzan Muda FC.

In 2011, at age of 50 he returned to Pahang FA as assistant manager, where he worked again with Dollah, who was the current head coach. The partnership lasted until the end of 2013, when they helped Pahang win the 2013 Malaysia Cup; Pahang's first Malaysia Cup in 21 years. After Dollah left Pahang to coach PDRM FA and Ron Smith was appointed as the new Pahang head coach at the end of 2013, Zainal was appointed as his assistant head coach. But after Smith's contract was not renewed in March 2014, Zainal Abidin was appointed as Smith's replacement. With Pahang, he won the Malaysia Cup in 2014 and also the Malaysia FA Cup in the same year.

In 2016, Zainal Abidin made his return to Selangor as head coach, replacing Mehmet Durakovic. This was not without controversy, as negotiations between Zainal and Selangor was made public when Durakovic was still Selangor coach, and Durakovic's contract was terminated even after he won the 33rd Malaysia Cup title with Selangor in 2015. Zainal, however, was sacked in August the same year, after poor performances by the team in the Super League and Malaysia Cup.

Zainal Abidin then coached Penang FA from May 2017 until September 2018. In November 2018, he was unveiled as the new head coach of Melaka United. After two years with Melaka, he returned to coach Penang for a short period of time in the 2022 season.Penang FC 2022 - NFT

Personal life Zainal Abidin's father is of Kenyan descent.Mohd Sofi Munajir, Zainal Abidin Hassan, Pertahanan Kental, Penyerang Yang Tajam dlm. 20 Tokoh Sukan, Medium Publication, Bandar Baru Bangi, 2009, pp.131. His oldest brother Khalid Ali and oldest son Mohd Zaiza are also Malaysian footballers.

Zainal has been married to Zalina binti Zaini since 1985 and they have five children. In 2023, he married his second wife, Malaysian singer Fyna Jebat. However, their marriage only lasted a few months as Zainal divorced his second wife and ended their marriage later this year.Zainal Abidin, Fyna Jebat divorced 2 weeks ago - NST

Career statistics International Scores and results list Malaysia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zainal Abidin Hassan goal.

+ List of international goals scored by Zainal Abidin HassanNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 13 November 1981 Bangkok, Thailand 2–3 1981 King's Cup2 4 June 1983 Singapore 1–1 1983 SEA Games3 5 June 1983 Singapore 5–0 1983 SEA Games45 19 September 1983 Kota Bharu, Malaysia 7–0 1983 Pestabola Merdeka678 10 October 1983 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3–1 1984 Olympic Games qualification910 16 October 1983 Singapore 1–1 1984 Olympic Games qualification11 20 October 1983 Singapore 2–0 1984 Olympic Games qualification12 28 October 1983 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2–0 1984 Olympic Games qualification13 18 April 1984 Singapore 2–1 1984 Olympic Games qualification14 12 August 1984 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1–0 Ovaltine Cup15 18 August 1984 Singapore 1–1 Ovaltine Cup16 24 August 1984 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1–0 1984 Pestabola Merdeka17 26 August 1984 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2–2 1984 Pestabola Merdeka18 29 August 1984 Kota Bharu, Malaysia 3–1 1984 Pestabola Merdeka192021 4 September 1984 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 5–1 1984 Pestabola Merdeka22 11 October 1984 Calcutta, India 5–0 1984 AFC Asian Cup qualification2324 14 October 1984 Calcutta, India 1–2 1984 AFC Asian Cup qualification25 18 October 1984 Calcutta, India 4–1 1984 AFC Asian Cup qualification2627 31 March 1985 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 5–0 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification282930 13 October 1985 Singapore 4–0 1985 Merlion Cup31 10 December 1985 Bangkok, Thailand 6–0 1985 SEA Games3233 14 December 1985 Bangkok, Thailand 2–2 1985 SEA Games34 24 July 1986 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3–0 1986 Pestabola Merdeka3536 27 July 1986 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2–0 1986 Pestabola Merdeka37 1 August 1986 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2–1 1986 Pestabola Merdeka38 7 April 1988 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 4–0 1988 AFC Asian Cup qualification3940 7 June 1989 Singapore 3–0 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification41 28 August 1989 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1–0 1989 SEA Games42 8 August 1992 Jakarta, Indonesia 1–1 1992 Independence Cup43 5 May 1993 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 9–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification44 5 June 1993 Singapore 3–1 1993 SEA Games45 11 June 1993 Singapore 9–0 1993 SEA Games46 10 December 1995 Lamphun, Thailand 9–0 1995 SEA Games47 6 June 1996 Shah Alam, Malaysia 5–2 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification4849 8 September 1996 Singapore 1–1 1996 AFF Championship50 31 March 1997 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 1–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours As a player Selangor FA Malaysia Super League: 1989, 1990 Malaysia Premier League runner-up: 1999 Malaysia Cup: 1981, 1982, 1986, 1997; runner-up 1980 Malaysia FA Cup: 1991, 1997; runner-up 1990 Malaysia President Cup (as Selangor Youth Team): 1988; runner-up 1987, 1999 Malaysia Charity Shield: 1985, 1987, 1990, 1997; runner-up 1998

Pahang FA Malaysia Super League: 1992, 1995 Malaysia Cup: 1983, 1992 Malaysia Charity Shield: 1992, 1993

Malaysia Pestabola Merdeka: 1986,1993 SEA Games: gold 1989 ; Silver 1981 ; bronze 1983 ; 1985 Indonesian Independence Cup: 1992 Tiger Cup: 1996 runner-up

Individual AFC Asian All Stars: 1982, 1985 Pestabola Merdeka Top Scorer : 1986 Malaysian League Golden Boot: 1983, 1986, 1989, 1992 AFF Championship Most Valuable Player : 1996 AFC Century Club Awards: 199914 Ex-internationals Inducted Into AFC Century Club - Bernama, 11 February 1999.National Library of Singapore.

As a head coach Pahang FA Malaysia FA Cup: 2006, 2014 Malaysia Cup: 2014 Malaysia Charity Shield: 2014

Selangor FA Malaysia Charity Shield runner-up: 2016

Individual FAM Football Awards – Best Coach Award: 2014

Filmography

Film Year Title Role 1989 Kolej 56 Footballer

Television series Year Title Role TV channel Notes 2000 Pi Mai Pi Mai Tang Tu (Season 29) Himself TV3

See also List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals Depeche Mode

References

External links Zainal Abidin Hassan at selangorfc.com. .