Mohammad Abu Yusuf

Mohammad Abu Yusuf (; born 11 September 1957) is a Bangladeshi football coach and former player, who last served as the head coach of Bangladesh Championship League club Dhaka Wanderers.

Early life Yusuf was born on 11 September 1957, in Bakshibazar, Dhaka. His father was a religious speaker at the Bakshibazar Mosque while his mother was a stay at home parent. Yusuf is the eldest of six brothers and seven sisters, and spent much of his childhood in Kolkata, where he would become an avid fan of Kolkata Mohammedan. Back in East Pakistan, Yusuf was inspired by local players, such as Golam Sarwar Tipu and Abdul Ghafoor.

In 1983, Yusuf joined Abahani Krira Chakra, with them he won a hat-trick of league titles from 1983 till 1985. He was also appointed club captain in 1986, and guided them to their third Federation Cup title. He also found success in continental level, as Abahani were runners-up in the Central Asian Zone of the 1985–86 Asian Club Championship, and champions of India's Charms Cup and Sait Nagjee Trophy, during the latter Yusuf was captain. After almost a decade at Abahani, he joined Victoria SC in 1991, and was later the coach cum player of Jurain Janata in the Second Division League. Eventually he retired in 1994, as an Abahani player.

On 14 September 1979, he scored his only international goal for Bangladesh, in a 3–1 victory over Sri Lanka, in the 1979 Korea President's Cup. Yusuf started all four games in the 1980 AFC Asian Cup, and captained the national team the following year in the first President's Gold Cup. Although he was called up to the preliminary squad for the 1982 Asian Games, he was excluded from German coach Gerd Schmidt's final selection. It was suspected that Yusuf, was scapegoated for Bangladesh's poor performances in the Quaid-e-Azam International Tournament and President's Gold Cup tournaments held earlier that year.

In the 1985 South Asian Games final against India, Yusuf was one of the players who failed to convert his penalty as Bangladesh lost 1–4 in the tie-breaker. In both 1986 and 1987 he played in the President's Gold Cup with the Bangladesh Red team, which was the main national team.

Managerial career After gaining experience while coaching Jurain Sporting, Yusuf was appointed as the assistant coach of Samir Shaker at Abahani. In 1995, he was appointed as the head coach of Mohammedan SC. Yusuf, guided Mohammedan to the DMFA Cup and Federation Cup, however, was replaced by Nigerian coach Kadiri Ikhana before the league season began. Nonetheless, after losing eight points in the first four league games, Yusuf was reappointed as head coach. Mohammedan finished runners-up to Dhaka Abahani in the championship playoff, after their star players Monwar Hossain Munna and Kaiser Hamid were suffering from injuries.

On 3 October 2004, Yusuf signed a one-year contract with Sheikh Russel KC and guided them to fifth position in the league, playing in an unorthodox 5-3-2 formation. In 2007, he joined Muktijoddha SKC, which became his first Bangladesh Premier League team. However, his stay at there was cut short as Yusuf had a row with senior players, who were ignored by the coach due to lack of fitness. Yusuf later coached Bangladesh U23 at the 2008 Summer Olympics qualifiers, where his team lost 1–3 on aggregate to Hong Kong U23.

"I have cut ties with this team. The officials requested me to stay at the bench in Muktijoddha's last two matches and that is why I am here" — Muktijoddha SKC coach Yusuf on his dissatisfaction with his players In 2008, Yusuf decided to return to Victoria SC for his fourth stint with the club, however, Victoria could not earn promotion from the Dhaka Senior Division Football League, which was then the second-tier (previously first-tier and currently the third-tier).

On 4 March 2008, Yusuf was made Bangladesh national team coach for the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers and the 2008 SAFF Championship. Yusuf selected an inexperienced squad for the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers, and during their opening match draw against Afghanistan, he handed debuts to three players – Mamunul Islam, Arup Kumar Baidya, Kazi Mofazzal Hossain (sent off during the game) and Maroof Ahmed. Nonetheless, the next game resulted in a (1–2) defeat to Kyrgyzstan which ended Bangladesh's qualification hopes. Later on that year at the SAFF Championship, Bangladesh produced one of their worst performances in the competition, and failed to advance past the group-stage with 2 draws and 1 loss.

"I don't want to continue because I feel the total management at the BFF does not favour any coach. I admit the failure to give the national team result(s) but I would also add that the atmosphere is not coach-friendly. I expected better from the new BFF committee but it has yet to change the tradition" — Yusuf on his decision to resign from the Bangladesh national team On 16 February 2012, Yusuf joined Sheikh Jamal DC, and lead the club to a runners-up position in the 2012–13 Bangladesh Premier League and 2012 Federation Cup. Yusuf also finished runner-up at the 2015 Federation Cup with Muktijoddha SKC.

Yusuf was reappointed as Farashganj SC head coach in April 2017. However, midway through the 2017–18 Bangladesh Premier League, Yusuf was sacked by Farashganj, and the club eventually went onto be relegated from the top-tier. In June 2021, Yusuf took charge of Wari Club, during the second phase of the 2020–21 Bangladesh Championship League. He remained in the second-tier, managing NoFeL SC during the 2022–23 Bangladesh Championship League, before facing the sack halfway through the league season, in January 2023.

On 24 April 2024, Yusuf guided Dhaka Wanderers Club to the Bangladesh Premier League as runners-up of the 2023–24 Bangladesh Championship League. This marked the club's return to the country's top-flight after 19 years and would see them participate in the Premier League for the first time in history.

Honours Player Mohammedan SC Dhaka First Division League: 1980, 1982 Federation Cup: 1980, 1981, 1982 Ashis-Jabbar Shield Tournament (India): 1982

Abahani Limited Dhaka Dhaka First Division/Premier Division League: 1983, 1984, 1985, 1989–90, 1994 Federation Cup: 1985, 1986, 1988 Sait Nagjee Trophy (India): 1989 Azmiri Begum Gold Cup: 1990 Independence Cup: 1990 BTC Club Cup: 1991 Charms Cup (India): 1994

Manager Mohammedan SC DMFA Cup: 1995 Federation Cup: 1995

Abahani Limited Dhaka Federation Cup: 1997

Koshaituli Somaj Kallyan Parishad Dhaka Third Division League: 1999

Victoria SC Dhaka First Division League: 1996, 1999

Awards and accolades 2000 − National Football League Best Coach Award. 2002− Sports Writers Association's Coach of the Year. 2017 − National Sports Award.