He also asked my mother to feed me well for the Olympics,' Zulfikar told IANS from Hyderabad.

Zulfikar said Rahim Saab's contribution to Indian football is immeasurable.

'He was a god to us. It is sad that we haven't been able to give him back at least one percent of what he gave to the game,' he said.

Ghosh, the towering defender of the 1960 Rome Olympics and the 1962 Asiad, said it's an unpardonable crime that AIFF could not plan centenary celebrations of India's greatest coach.

'It is crime that on the ocassion of his birth centennary the AIFF is doing nothing to pay respects to him. But Rahim saab will always have a special place in our heart,' he said.

'Rahim saab was the best coach I ever had. He earned a lot of respect from the players. He had the knack of spotting talent very quickly.'

Besides Ghosh, Zulfikar and Hakeen, Rahim coached legends like Sailen Manna, Chuni Goswami, P.K. Banerjee, Mewalal, Tulsidas Balaram, Peter Thangaraj, Yousuf Khan, Jarnail Singh, Kempiah, S.K. Azizuddin, Noor, Prasanta Sinha and F.A. Franco.

Eight of Rahim's wards, who were a part of the gold medal winning team at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta, went on to win the Arjuna Award and two also got the Padmashree. But Rahim was never conferred any award by the federation or the government.

Hakeem, who is also writing the biography of his father, said that the AIFF has done nothing to recognise his enormous contribution to Indian football.

'They have just one trophy named after my father and it is given to the best coach of the league. But it is hardly known. They could have named the Federation Cup after my father. After what he gave to the game can never be matched,' he said. Some of the old-timers concur with him.