2020–21 Abahani Limited Dhaka season

Abahani Limited Dhaka

2020–21 season
Director	Kazi Nabil Ahmed
Head coach	Mário Lemos
Stadium	Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka
Bangladesh Premier League	3rd
Federation Cup	Semi final
Independence Cup	Did not held
AFC Cup	Withdrawn[note 1]
Top goalscorer	League: Kervens Belfort (17) All: Kervens Belfort (19)
Biggest win	0–8 Vs Uttar Baridhara Club (26 August 2021)
Biggest defeat	1–4 Vs Bashundhara Kings (28 February 2021)
Home colours Away colours
All statistics correct as of 20 September 2021.

The 2020–21 season was the Abahani Limited Dhaka's 13th consecutive season in the Bangladesh Premier League since initiation of the league, and 46th overall season in the top flight of Bangladeshi football.^[1][2][3][4] 16 March 2020, All sorts of sports activities in Bangladesh were postponed due to the spread of coronavirus in the country, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Youth and Sports. So beginning of this season was delayed.

Season review

Pre-season

Abahani Dhaka wasn’t so active in the transfer window as the club wanted to sign one or two new foreign players only. However, Brazilian defender Maílson Alves already left the club on a free transfer in September. In October, it was confirmed that the club will renew the contract of Portuguese head coach Mário Lemos.^[5] It was also confirmed that Abahani won't release any local player.^[6][7] Though they signed goalkeeper Shuhagh Hossain.

Players

Dhaka Abahani Limited squad for 2020–21 season.

As of 1 July 2021

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  BAN Shahidul Alam Sohel 2 DF  BAN Raihan Hasan 3 DF  BAN Waly Faisal 4 DF  BAN Nasiruddin Chowdhury 5 DF  BAN Tutul Hossain Badsha 6 MF  BAN Mamunul Islam 7 MF  BAN Sohel Rana (2nd captain) 8 MF  BAN Pranotosh Kumar Das 10 FW  BAN Nabib Newaj Jibon (Captain) 11 FW  BAN Rubel Miya 12 MF  BAN Jewel Rana 14 DF  BAN Mamun Miah 15 FW  BAN Saad Uddin 16 MF  BAN Mohamed Sohel Rana 17 FW  NGA Sunday Chizoba

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 GK  BAN Sultan Ahmed Shakil 19 DF  AFG Masih Saighani 20 FW  HAI Kervens Belfort 21 DF  BAN Muhammad Nazim Uddin 22 GK  BAN Mohammad Nayeem Mia 23 MF  BAN Mohammad Ridoy 24 MF  BAN Dipok Roy 25 GK  BAN Mohammad Shamim Hossen 26 DF  BAN Syed Arafat Hossain Tasin 27 FW  BAN Faisal Ahmed Shitol 29 DF  BAN Shakir Ahmed 30 GK  BAN Shohug Hossain Palash 35 MF  BAN Al Amin Hassan Aanaf 80 MF  BRA Raphael Augusto

Transfers

In

No.	Pos	Player	Previous club	Fee	Date	Source
9	FW	Francisco Wagsley	Borneo FC	Free transfer	20 November 2020	[8]
80	MF	Raphael Augusto	Bengaluru FC	Free transfer	30 November 2020	[9]
19	DF	Masih Saighani	Chennaiyin FC	Free transfer	9 December 2020	[10]
30	GK	Shuhagh Hossain	Team BJMC	Free transfer	9 December 2020
17	FW	Sunday Chizoba	Free agent	Free transfer	7 April 2021	[11]

Out

No.	Pos	Player	Moved to	Fee	Date	Source
-	DF	Alaaeldin Nasr Elmagraby	Rahmatganj MFS	Free	1 August 2020
19	DF	Maílson Alves	SER Caxias	Free	8 September 2020
10	FW	Sunday Chizoba	No Club	Free	1 November 2020
17	MF	Edgar Bernhardt	FC Dordoi Bishkek	Free	1 December 2020
9	FW	Francisco Wagsley	Borneo F.C.	Free	5 April 2021	[11]
13	DF	Atiqur Rahman Meshu	Brothers Union	Free	April 2021

Pre-season and friendlies

Abahani Limited Dhaka v Uttar Baridhara

14 December 2020	Abahani Limited Dhaka	3–0	Uttar Baridhara	Dhaka
14:30 BST	Jewel Torres			Stadium: Abahani Field

Abahani Limited Dhaka v Uttar Baridhara

7 April 2021	Abahani Limited Dhaka	2–1	Uttar Baridhara	Dhaka
14:30 BST	Saighani			Stadium: Abahani Field

Competitions

Overview

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
					Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
BPL	14 January 2021	20 September 2021	Matchday 1	3	24	13	8	3	65	29	+36	054.17
Federation Cup	24 December 2020	7 January 2021	Group Stage	Semi-final	4	3	0	1	7	4	+3	075.00
AFC Cup	April 2021		Cancelled[note 1]		0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
Independence Cup	TBD	TBD	Group Stage	Didn't held	0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
Total					28	16	8	4	72	33	+39	057.14

Last updated: 20 September 2021
Source: Soccerway

Federation Cup

Main article: 2020-21 Bangladesh Federation Cup

Group stage

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Dhaka Abahani	2	2	0	0	5	1	+4	6	Quarter Finals
2	Dhaka Mohammedan	2	1	0	1	4	4	0	3
3	Muktijoddha Sangsad KC	2	0	0	2	2	6	−4	0

Source: Soccerway

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Abahani Limited Dhaka v Dhaka Mohammedan

24 December 2020	Abahani Limited Dhaka	3–0	Dhaka Mohammedan	Dhaka
19:15 BST	Masih 41' Jewel 45', 53'	Report		Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium

Muktijoddha Sangsad KC v Abahani Limited Dhaka

30 December 2020	Muktijoddha Sangsad KC	1–2	Abahani Limited Dhaka	Dhaka
17:45 BST	Rohit 87'	Report	Masih 30' Belfort 69'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Jalal Uddin

Knockout phase

Abahani Limited Dhaka v Uttar Baridhara Club

4 January 2021 Quarter Final	Abahani Limited Dhaka	1–0	Uttar Baridhara Club	Dhaka
16:00 BST	Torres 90+5'	Report		Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Alomgir Sarker

Bashundhara Kings v Abahani Limited Dhaka

7 January 2021 Semi Final	Bashundhara Kings	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Abahani Limited Dhaka	Dhaka
16:00 BST	Fernandes 51', 120+1' Becerra 111'	Report	Wagsley 31'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Sujit Banerjee

Premier League

Main article: 2021 Bangladesh Premier League (football)

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Bashundhara Kings (C, Q)	24	21	2	1	60	10	+50	65	Qualification for AFC Cup Group stage
2	Sheikh Jamal DC[a]	24	15	7	2	53	28	+25	52
3	Dhaka Abahani (Q)	24	13	8	3	65	29	+36	47	Qualification for AFC Cup qualifying play-offs
4	Saif Sporting Club	24	14	2	8	48	37	+11	44
5	Chittagong Abahani	24	13	5	6	38	28	+10	44

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
(C) Champions; (Q) Qualify for the AFC competition
Notes:

1. Sheikh Jamal cannot qualify for Asian Football Confederation competitions as they were not granted an AFC Cup license for 2022.^[12]

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
24	13	8	3	64	29	+35	47	7	3	2	28	17	+11	6	5	1	36	12	+24

Last updated: 20 September 2021.
Source: Soccerway

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	-	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	A
Result	W	W	W	D	D	W	D	W	W	D	-	L	W	D	W	W	D	W	L	D	W	L	W	-	D	W
Position	5	2	2	2	4	3	4	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	3	3	2	3	3	3	3	3

Updated to match(es) played on 20 September 2021 (2021-09-20). Source: Matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed

Matches

Abahani Ltd. Dhaka v Bangladesh Police FC

14 January 2021 Round 1	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	1–0	Bangladesh Police FC	Dhaka
16:00 BST	Belfort 85'	Report	Shadhin  71'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: GM Chowdhury

Brothers Union v Abahani Ltd. Dhaka

19 January 2021 Round 2	Brothers Union	0–2	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	Dhaka
18:00 BST	Monday  33'	Report	Torres 34' Belfort 41'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Bhubon Torofdar

Abahani Ltd. Dhaka v Rahmatganj MFS

23 January 2021 Round 3	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	1–0	Rahmatganj MFS	Dhaka
15:30 BST	Miya  33' Rana 79'	Report	Mehebub Nayan  57'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Mizanur Rahman

Dhaka Mohammedan v Abahani Ltd. Dhaka

28 January 2021 Round 4	Dhaka Mohammedan	2–2	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	Comilla
15:00 BST	Diabate 17', 66' Jafar Iqbal  21' Coulidiati  56'	Report	Torres 14' Saad  21' Rana 33'	Stadium: Comilla Stadium Referee: Mohammad Jalaluddin

Abahani Ltd. Dhaka v Chittagong Abahani

1 February 2021 Round 5	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	1–1	Chittagong Abahani	Dhaka
15:30 BST	Torres 32' Raihan Hasan  52'	Report	Didier  33' Nixon 45+2' 88' Monjurur  63'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: M. Rahman (Bangladesh)

Muktijoddha Sangsad KC v Abahani Ltd. Dhaka

5 February 2021 Round 6	Muktijoddha Sangsad KC	1–4	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	Dhaka
18:00 BST	Nipu 66' Mithu  90'	Report	Saighani 15', 53' Rana  40' 45+1' Shahidul  50' Torres  54' Roy 76'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: M. Uddin (Bangladesh)

Abahani Ltd. Dhaka v Sheikh Jamal DC

9 February 2021 Round 7	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	2–2	Sheikh Jamal DC	Dhaka
15:30 BST	Belfort 13' Jewel Rana  40' Torres 46'	Report	Sillah 19' Kanform  40' Jobe 72'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: G.Chawdhury Nayan (Bangladesh)

Arambagh KS v Abahani Ltd. Dhaka

13 February 2021 Round 8	Arambagh KS	0–4	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	Munshigonj
15:00 BST	Rocky  34'	Report	Torres 31', 42' Saighani 61' Smith 87' (o.g.)	Stadium: Munshigonj Stadium Referee: B. Torofdar (Bangladesh)

Abahani Ltd. Dhaka v Saif Sporting Club

16 February 2021 Round 9	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	2–0	Saif Sporting Club	Dhaka
15:30 BST	Raihan Hasan  47' Augusto 53' Belfort 66' Shahidul  76'	Report	Sirozhiddin  63'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: M. Rahman (Bangladesh)

Sheikh Russel KC v Abahani Ltd. Dhaka

20 February 2021 Round 10	Sheikh Russel KC	1–1	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	Dhaka
18:00 BST	Asrorov 90+2'	Report	Uddin 25'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: M. Uddin (Bangladesh)

Abahani Ltd. Dhaka v Bashundhara Kings

28 February 2021 Round 12	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	1–4	Bashundhara Kings	Dhaka
16:00 BST	Nasiruddin  56' Belfort 81'	Report	Becerra 18', 76' Shafiei 25' Fernandes 51' Biplu Ahmed  73'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: B.Barua (Bangladesh)

Abahani Ltd. Dhaka v Uttar Baridhara Club

4 March 2021 Round 13	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	2–1	Uttar Baridhara Club	Dhaka
18:45 BST	Torres 26' Fozilov 55' (o.g.)	Report	Sohel Rana  29' Sayed 90'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: M. Nahid (Bangladesh)

Police FC v Abahani Ltd. Dhaka

30 April 2021 Round 14	Police FC	2–2	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	Dhaka
19:00 BST	C. Kouakou 41' 60' Jalal Miya  44'	Report	J. Rana 34' S. Chizoba 43'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: M. Rahman (Bangladesh)

Abahani Ltd. Dhaka v Brothers Union

4 May 2021 Round 15	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	5–2	Brothers Union	Dhaka
16:00 BST	Sunday 22' Nasiruddin 40' Jewel 44' Belfort 62' Rubel 81'	Report	C. Oriaku  18' Magalan 77' 90+5' (pen.)	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: GM Chowdury

Rahmatganj MFS v Abahani Ltd. Dhaka

7 May 2021 Round 16	Rahmatganj MFS	0–6	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	Dhaka
16:00 BST		Report	Beknazarov 27' (o.g.) Belfort 37' 43' 62' Mamun 65' Saighani 85'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Bituraj Barua

Abahani Ltd. Dhaka v Mohammedan SC

26 June 2021 Round 17	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	1–1	Mohammedan SC	Dhaka
17:00 BST	Belfort 4'	Report	Iqbal  23' Ouatching 30'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Mizanur Rahman

Chittagong Abahani v Dhaka Abahani

1 July 2021 Round 18	Chittagong Abahani	0–2	Dhaka Abahani	Dhaka
17:00 BST	Brossou  90+1'	Report	Chizoba 34' Chizoba  45+1' Islam 52'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Mohammed Jalaluddin

Dhaka Abahani v Muktijoddha Sangsad KC

18 July 2021 Round 19	Dhaka Abahani	2–4	Muktijoddha Sangsad KC	Dhaka
18:45 BST	S. Chizoba 45+2' (pen.) M. Saighani  45+5' M. Ridoy  62' R. Hasan  72' F. Ahmed 90+2'	Report	I. Dicko 17' F. Ballo 44', 63' S. Nipu 84'  86'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Bituraj Barua

Sheikh Jamal DC v Abahani Ltd. Dhaka

6 August 2021 Round 20	Sheikh Jamal DC	2–2	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	Dhaka
16:00 BST	Monir  7' Jobe 31'  79' S. K. Kanform  41' 45' O. Valijonov  89'	Report	M. Saighani  16' S. Chizoba 52' 79'  80' K. Belfort 88'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Bituraj Barua

Abahani Ltd. Dhaka v Arambagh KS

9 August 2021 Round 21	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	6–1	Arambagh KS	Dhaka
18:15 BST	Jewel Rana 19', 21', 90+1' Sunday Chizoba 43' Faisal Ahmed Shitol 68' Sohel Rana 88'	Report	Dilshod Nazirov 79'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Mohammed Jalaluddin

Saif SC v Abahani Ltd. Dhaka

13 August 2021 Round 22	Saif SC	3–2	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	Dhaka
16:00 BST	K. Ikechukwu 43', 81' J. Okoli 45+2' Rafi  50' Rimon  72'		Saad Uddin  15' Saighani  46' K. Belfort 76' Jewel 78' Ridoy  84'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Mohammed Jalaluddin

Abahani Ltd. Dhaka v Sheikh Russel KC

17 August 2021 Round 23	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	5–1	Sheikh Russel KC	Dhaka
16:00 BST	Sunday 32' 90+3' R. Augusto 70' 88' K. Belfort 80'	Report	S. Asrorov 64'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Mohan Bhaban

Bashundhara Kings v Abahani Ltd. Dhaka

20 September 2021 Round 25	Bashundhara Kings	1–1	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	Dhaka
16:00 BST (UTC+6)	Barman 37'	Report	Barman 28' (o.g.) M. Ridoy  36' Rayhan  81' S. Uddin  90+3'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Bituraj Barua
Note: This match was rescheduled from August to September due to Bashundhara Kings's 2021 AFC Cup group stage matches.

Uttar Baridhara Club v Abahani Ltd. Dhaka

26 August 2021 Round 26	Uttar Baridhara Club	0–8	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	Dhaka
16:00 BST	Mitul Marma  32'	Report	R. Augusto 4' K. Belfort 34' 68' 74' 90' Sunday 41' Ridoy  45' Jewel 64' 66' Waly  84'	Stadium: Bangabandhu National Stadium Referee: Mohammed Saymon Hassan

AFC Cup

Main article: 2021 AFC Cup

Qualifying play-offs

Main article: 2021 AFC Cup qualifying play-offs

Preliminary round 2

Abahani Ltd. Dhaka v Club Eagles

April 2021 (2021-04)	Abahani Ltd. Dhaka	Cancelled[note 1]	Club Eagles	TBC
16:30 UTC+6		Stats Report

Statistics

Goalscorers

As of matches played till 20 September 2021

Rank	Nat.	Player	Position	Total	BPL	Federation Cup	Independence Cup
1		Kervens Belfort	FW	19	17	2	–
2		Jewel Rana	FW	12	10	2
3		Francisco Wagsley	FW	9	7	2
4		Sunday Chizoba	FW	9	9	0
5		Masih Saighani	DF	6	4	2
6		Raphael Augusto	MF	4	4	0
7		Dipok Roy	MF	2	2	0
		Faisal Ahmed Shitol	FW	2	2	0
9		Saad Uddin	DF	1	1	0
		Sohel Rana	MF	1	1	0
		Mamunul Islam	MF	1	1	0
		Nasiruddin Chowdhury	DF	1	1	0
		Rubel Miya	FW	1	1	0
		Mamun Miah	DF	1	1	0
		Mohammad Sohel Rana	MF	1	1	0
Own				4	4
Total				74	66	8	0

Notes

1. The preliminary round 2 match between Abahani Limited Dhaka and Eagles was originally scheduled to be played on 14 April 2021, 16:30 UTC+6, at Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, but was rescheduled to be played on 21 April 2021, 17:30 UTC+5:45, at Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu (Nepal), due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh which caused a lockdown starting from 14 April.^[13] However, it had been further postponed.^[14] On 30 April 2021, AFC finally decided that Abahani Limited Dhaka considered to have withdrawn from the competition and that the situation constituted an event of force majeure. AFC awarded the play-off slot to Eagles.^[15]

References

1. "Bangladesh - Abahani Limited, Dhaka - Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news". Soccerway. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
2. তাহলে কোথায় গিয়ে খেলতে হচ্ছে আবাহনীকে?. Daily Sports BD (in Bengali). 10 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
3. "Abahani's AFC Cup match likely in India". Daily Sun. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
4. "বাফুফের আকস্মিক সিদ্ধান্তে ক্ষতির মুখে ক্লাবগুলো (In Bengali)". Daily Dhaka Post. 24 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
5. "Abahani, Mohammedan retain foreign coaches". Dhaka Tribune. 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
6. "Arambagh squad halved as transfer window begins". Dhaka Tribune. 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
7. "Abahani kick off practice sessions from next week". The Independent. Dhaka. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
8. ঢাকা আবাহনীতে ব্রাজিলিয়ান তোরেস! (in Bengali).
9. আবাহনীতে ব্রাজিলিয়ান রাফায়েল; কথা চলছে প্যালেস্টাইনের খেলোয়াড়ের সাথে (in Bengali).
10. মাসিহ সাইঘানি ফিরছেন আবাহনীতে. Jago News 24 (in Bengali). Retrieved 2020-12-16.
11. নির্ধারিত সময়েই আবাহনীর ম্যাচ, সানডে আসছেন রোববার. Jago News 24 (in Bengali). Retrieved 2021-04-09.
12. "List of Licensed Clubs for the 2022 AFC Cup" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-11-22. Retrieved 2021-11-25.
13. "Abahani, Eagles match likely in Nepal". New Age. 11 April 2021.
14. "Abahani, Eagles match still in doldrums". New Age. 15 April 2021.
15. "Latest updates on AFC Club Competitions". AFC. Retrieved 30 April 2021.