Quah Twist
Quah Han Kok proved as hot a property at forty as he was at twenty, as his arranged transfer to Mexican Division Four club El Pipila de Guanajuato was usurped by Peruvian outfit Sport Tapasca, who lured Quah with promises of playing time.
They were moreover not the only admirers of the evergreen Grilled midfielder, with Cracow KV (Polish Division Eight) making an inquiry almost immediately after Quah was placed on the transfer list, while poptop (Swedish Divisin Eight) too came up with an offer.
The plaudits didn't stop coming in after the earlier awards ceremony, with Grilled stars past and present effusive in their praise for the Birds vice-captain, who completed 22 seasons for his club and played at the Hattrick Masters and all levels of the national setup into the bargain, picking up two Singapore Cups, 356 competitive appearances, 92 goals and four hat-tricks.
"Put simply, there is no way that what he did will be beaten." another club legend Ola Martinsson, now a businessman in his native Sweden, said. "He broke through only a season after I joined, and was still near his peak when I was well over it."
Fondly-remembered former captain Jörgen Falkbo chimed in through email. "Quah was your typical hot-headed kid wanting to make a name for himself when I was at the club, but we could never bring ourselves to say too much, because he could back it all up and more. I've not seen many better attacking midfielders in my long career."
Dazzling winger Ciro Penati, now with former Polish Ekstraklasa champions Future Zabrze, revealed that Quah in his later years was perhaps even more dangerous. "I always regarded him as my equal on the wing, although that was definitely not his best position." the Italian added. "He was usually about level with me in footraces despite being ten years older! I couldn't believe it at the time."
Maikel Rotteveel, an over 200-goal forward for Grilled himself spending his twilight years in Israel with macbii haifa, confirmed Quah's mythical pace, along with his other qualities. "There was no other man I would wish had the ball in the final third. Quah, no doubt."
Former Grilled head coach and now director of the youth team Luis Alcántara wrote from Brazil, in the middle of a scouting mission: "When fit, Quah was nearly always the first name on my teamsheet. Others scored more, others were at times more important, but all things considered, Quah was the best."
