Khandoker Wasim Iqbal

Khandoker Wasim Iqbal

Personal information
Full name	Khandoker Wasim Iqbal
Date of birth	(1961-11-21) 21 November 1961
Place of birth	Dhaka, Bangladesh
Position(s)	Winger
Youth career
1977–1978	Brothers Union (Youth Team)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1978–1987	Brothers Union
1987–1988	SC East Bengal
1988-1990	Dhaka Abahani
1990–1992	Brothers Union
International career
1980–1990	Bangladesh
Managerial career
	Brothers Union U19
	Brothers Union
	Dhanmondi Club
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Khandoker Wasim Iqbal (Template:Lang-bn; 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.

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. 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.

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. 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.

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.

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. In October 2021, he became the team manager of Sheikh Russel KC in the Bangladesh Premier League.

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

Personal life

Wasim studied in Ramakrishna Mission High School, 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.