His final game was a celebration of his remarkable career, with his fans, team mates and family in attendance wearing "6:16" "#LastDance" "GOATZila" t-shirts dedicated to a basketball icon. He had a remarkable game. At various points, Kings BC would be coached and trained by Sri Lankan Sriyantha Jayaweera, local coaches Ali Isham and Mohamed Naseer, and Jay Salazar Cambarihan and Eric Samson of the Philippines. In his later years, he would leave his customary shooting guard position to utilize his amazing leadership, ball IQ and court awareness as point guard. In his final game, he led his team to the biggest finals winning margin in history. He would also mirror this swap in position for the national team. Zilaal made his national team debut while still in school. He, along with fellow junior pool member Ali Fazlee, were picked to represent the country in 2003. Zilaal was 17 years old. He would, in fact, complete his first overseas tour with the national team and returned to sit his O-Level exams the following day! Over 17 years, Zilaal would go on to represent Maldives in numerous FIBA Asia and SABA tournaments, as well as Indian Ocean Island Games, South Asian Federation Games and other regional invitational competitions. He also represented Maldives in 3x3, captaining the team to the very first international medal finish, bringing home the bronze in 2011. The team was completed by the three players whose own careers largely mirrored Zilaal in appearances for club and country - Ahmed Afsan Rashad, Ali Fazlee and Ahmed Firash. Zilaal would also captain the Maldives to its best international result to date, runners-up of the 2016 FIBA Asia SABA Zone Qualification Tournament in Bangalore, India. Other stalwarts of the national team who played alongside Zilaal across his illustrious career are his brother Ahmed Zabeer, brother-in-law Zakariyya Shiham and Ilyas Ibrahim. Zakariyya holds the record for the most appearances for his country. Zilaal became the captain of Maldives in 2015, following the retirement of Ilyas Ibrahim. He finished his 17-year national career as the top scorer and most minutes and starts for Maldives. Zilaal is also recognized by his regional rivals as one of the top guards and would always attract added attention in coaches' plans when facing the diminutive yet quick, sharpshooting Maldivians.