Zainal Abidin Hassan


Datuk Zainal Abidin Hassan bin Mohd Ali 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. 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, according to Globe Soccer Awards in 2020. Against other nations' national 'A' teams, he scored [List of men's footballers with List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals|50 or more international goals|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.
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 back to coach Penang for a short period of time in the 2022 season.

Personal life

Zainal Abidin's father is of Kenyan descent. 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.

Career statistics

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
113 November 1981Bangkok, Thailand2–31981 King's Cup
24 June 1983Singapore1–11983 SEA Games
35 June 1983Singapore5–01983 SEA Games
45 June 1983Singapore-5–01983 SEA Games
519 September 1983Kota Bharu, Malaysia7–01983 Pestabola Merdeka
619 September 1983Kota Bharu, Malaysia-7–01983 Pestabola Merdeka
719 September 1983Kota Bharu, Malaysia-7–01983 Pestabola Merdeka
810 October 1983Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia3–11984 Olympic Games qualification
910 October 1983Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-3–11984 Olympic Games qualification
1016 October 1983Singapore1–11984 Olympic Games qualification
1120 October 1983Singapore2–01984 Olympic Games qualification
1228 October 1983Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia2–01984 Olympic Games qualification
1318 April 1984Singapore2–11984 Olympic Games qualification
1412 August 1984Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia1–0Ovaltine Cup
1518 August 1984Singapore1–1Ovaltine Cup
1624 August 1984Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia1–01984 Pestabola Merdeka
1726 August 1984Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia2–21984 Pestabola Merdeka
1829 August 1984Kota Bharu, Malaysia3–11984 Pestabola Merdeka
1929 August 1984Kota Bharu, Malaysia-3–11984 Pestabola Merdeka
2029 August 1984Kota Bharu, Malaysia-3–11984 Pestabola Merdeka
214 September 1984Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia5–11984 Pestabola Merdeka
2211 October 1984Calcutta, India5–01984 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2311 October 1984Calcutta, India-5–0AFC Asian Cup qualification
2414 October 1984Calcutta, India1–21984 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2518 October 1984Calcutta, India4–11984 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2618 October 1984Calcutta, India-4–11984 AFC Asian Cup qualification
2731 March 1985Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia5–01986 FIFA World Cup qualification
2831 March 1985Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-5–01986 FIFA World Cup qualification
2931 March 1985Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-5–01986 FIFA World Cup qualification
3013 October 1985Singapore4–01985 Merlion Cup
3110 December 1985Bangkok, Thailand6–01985 SEA Games
3210 December 1985Bangkok, Thailand-6–01985 SEA Games
3314 December 1985Bangkok, Thailand2–21985 SEA Games
3424 July 1986Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia3–01986 Pestabola Merdeka
3524 July 1986Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-3–01986 Pestabola Merdeka
3627 July 1986Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia2–01986 Pestabola Merdeka
371 August 1986Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia2–11986 Pestabola Merdeka
387 April 1988Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia4–01988 AFC Asian Cup qualification
397 April 1988Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-4–01988 AFC Asian Cup qualification
407 June 1989Singapore3–01990 FIFA World Cup qualification
4128 August 1989Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia1–01989 SEA Games
428 August 1992Jakarta, Indonesia1–11992 Independence Cup
435 May 1993Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia9–01994 FIFA World Cup qualification
445 June 1993Singapore3–11993 SEA Games
4511 June 1993Singapore9–01993 SEA Games
4610 December 1995Lamphun, Thailand9–01995 SEA Games
476 June 1996Shah Alam, Malaysia5–21996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
486 June 1996Shah Alam, Malaysia-5–21996 AFC Asian Cup qualification
498 September 1996Singapore1–11996 AFF Championship
5031 March 1997Jeddah, Saudi Arabia1–01998 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

As a player

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

As a head coach

Pahang FA
Selangor FA
Individual