Khandoker Wasim Iqbal

Khandoker Wasim Iqbal (Bengali: খন্দকার ওয়াসিম ইকবাল; born 21 November 1961) is a retired Bangladeshi professional footballer and Coach who played as a Winger. He was one of the most recognised players during the early years of Bangladeshi football. He was a prominent member of the Bangladesh national football team during most of the 80s and early 90s.^[1]

Club career[]

Wasim's career began with his local club Brothers Union's underage team. During his time with the youth team Wasim managed to impress the clubs officials, and was promoted to the senior team, even though he had only been at the club for a year. Under the legendary Brothers coach Gofur Beluch, Wasim established himself as one of the countries best players.^[2] In 1984 he was named as the clubs captain. Wasim career with "The Oranges" saw him win numerous trophies including the Federation Cup, DMFA Cup and the Aga Khan Gold Cup in 1981. The early years of the Dhaka League was the golden era for Brothers Union as they produced players such as Shahid Selim, Hasanuzzaman Bablu, Mohammed Moshin and the ever dependable Wasim himself, whose technical ability was not something many Bengali players had in the 80s. Soon, Wasim attracted interest from overseas and ended up joining Calcutta Football League team and Indian giants SC East Bengal in 1987. After spending a year playing abroad, Wasim returned to Bangladesh by joining Dhaka Abahani. He spent two years (1988 to 1990) with the club winning the Dhaka League in 1989, which was the only domestic title he had not won in his career at the time. In 1990 Wasim returned to Brothers, spending two more years at the club before retiring in 1992 at the age of 31.^[3][4]

International career[]

Wasim played for the Bangladesh national football team from 1980 to 1990, captaining the side during 1984 South Asian Games in Nepal and also during the 1987 South Asian Games which was held in India.^[3] One of his most memorable matches for the national side cam during the 1984 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers against the Philippines, when he almost single-handedly won the match for Bangladesh by scoring a brace in the first half.^[5]

Style of play[]

Wasim dominated the domestic football scene in the 80s in the colours of Brothers Union with his deft dodges, speed, lethal crosses and stunning goals. He was mainly known for his dribbles and is considered to be the best dribbler of the ball Bangladesh ever produced.^[6]

Managerial career[]

After retiring Wasim started his coaching career with his former club Brothers Union's under 19 team and later went on to manage the senior team. However, his managerial career has not been very successful compared to his playing days.^[7] In October 2021, he became the team manager of Sheikh Russel KC in the Bangladesh Premier League.^[8]

In March 2022, Iqbal was dismissed from the manager post of Sheikh Russel KC.^[9]

Personal life[]

Wasim studied in , which is where he learned how to play football. During the peak of his career Wasim appeared in the movie "Johnny Ustad", he has acted with film stars like Zafar Iqbal and Anju Ghosh.^[10]

References[]