Hasanuzzaman Khan Bablu

Hasanuzzaman Khan Bablu (; born 5 May 1955) is a retired Bangladeshi football player and coach. At the club level, Bablu is most well known for representing Gopibagh-based Brothers Union. In domestic football, he has scored 75 goals including a hat-trick. Bablu also represented the Bangladesh national team in the 1980 AFC Asian Cup and played for his country between 1975 and 1982. After retiring, he managed the national team as an interim in 2000, 2003 and 2006.

Early life Born in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, Bablu started his football career while studying in Sirajganj, where he won the best player award in an interschool football tournament. Bablu's father, A Z Khan, was a police superintendent while his mother, Nurjahan Begum, was a housewife. He grew up with five brothers and two sisters. His brother-in-law, Abul Kashem, was the director of WAPDA SC and provided financial support to Bablu during the early stages of his career.

Prime at Brothers Union Bablu quickly made a name for himself when the newly promoted Brothers made their top-flight debut in 1975, claiming a 1–0 victory over defending champions Abahani Krira Chakra. In 1976, during a league game against East End Club, Bablu who had scored two goals already, dribbled past the entire East End defence only to bring the ball back to his own half and sit on top of it. Bablu claimed to have challenged the opponent players to take the ball off of him, however following his antics the referee booked Bablu, who was then immediately substituted.

Bablu attracted the interest of Sheikh Kamal, who invited him to join Abahani, and though the deal was agreed by both clubs it later collapsed after the 15 August 1975 coup d'état. Although during his time with the Oranges he failed to win the league title, Bablu was part of the Brothers team that were joint champions of the first edition of the Federation Cup in 1980, during which he was the club captain. Bablu was also part of the team that became the first Bangladeshi side to win the Aga Khan Gold Cup, although both titles were shared with Mohammedan SC and Bangkok Bank, respectively. During their Aga Khan Gold Cup triumph, Bablu scored in the semi-final against Oman XI in a 3–1 victory.

International career In 1975, the same year when Brothers Union made their top-tier debut, Bablu got a national team call-up from Abdur Rahim who was the Bangladesh's coach at the time. Bablu travelled with the team to Malaysia where they took part in the Merdeka Cup. Bablu then played for the Bangladesh U19 team at the 1978 AFC Youth Championship in Dhaka. He also captained the U19 team during the qualifiers for the 1980 AFC Youth Championship under his club coach, Gafur Baloch. Bablu guided the youth national team to qualification as they finished group runners-up behind Qatar U19.

He represented the senior team at the 1978 Asian Games and the 1979 Korean President's Cup. Bablu was also part of the national team during the qualifiers and the main stage of the 1980 AFC Asian Cup. He represented the Bangladesh Red team, during the first Bangladesh President's Gold Cup, in 1981. Bablu's last appearance for the national team was in a 0–9 defeat to Iran, at Pakistan's Quaid-E-Azam International Cup (1982).

In 2000, Bablu was the interim head coach of the Bangladesh national team, during the a friendly match held in London against India, and also during the 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers held in Hong Kong. In July 2006, he replaced Andrés Cruciani as Bangladesh interim head coach, for the second half of the 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. He served as the head coach of the Bangladesh U23 team during the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.

In 2007, he managed Bangladesh at the 2007 Merdeka Cup, in which were all non FIFA matches. Concurrently the main national team participated in the 2007 Nehru Cup under main head coach Syed Nayeemuddin, thus the Malaysia bound team is considered to be the national B team.

Personal life In 1980, Bablu married the younger sister of his Brothers Union teammate Shahiduddin Ahmed Selim.

He also served as the president of Sonali Otit Club (organization of former footballers).

Honours

Player Brothers Union Dhaka Third Division League: 1973 Dhaka Second Division League: 1974 Federation Cup: 1980 Aga Khan Gold Cup: 1981–82

Mohammedan SC Federation Cup: 1983

Abahani Krira Chakra Dhaka First Division League: 1984

Manager Mohammedan SC Dhaka Premier Division League: 1999 All Airlines Gold Cup: 1999

Awards and accolades 1999 − Sports Writers Association's Best Football Coach Award 2006 − National Sports Award