Alfaz Ahmed

Alfaz Ahmed (আলফাজ আহমদ; born: 6 June 1973) is a Bangladeshi football coach and former player who is currently the head coach of Mohammedan SC. He played for the Bangladesh national team from 1995 to 2008. He is seen as one of the best strikers to ever play for Bangladesh.

He won three international trophies while playing for his country. Alfaz scored the winning goal of the 1999 South Asian Games final against Nepal. In his 13-year career with the Bangladesh team, he scored 11 goals. Alfaz also has 109 domestic league goals, including numerous goals in AFC club competitions. Although he played as a striker for the national team, Alfaz was often used as a playmaking forward at the  domestic level.

Early life
Alfaz was born in Zakiganj Upazila of Sylhet District. He spent most of his childhood in Dhaka, as his father attended work in the capital.

Early career
Alfaz started his football career in 1985 in the Youth Football League. In 1987, He wore the Orient Sporting jersey in the Pioneer League. He played for Lalbagh Sporting in the Second Division during the 1988–89 season. Alfaz first played in the Dhaka League, with Rahmatganj MFS during the 1991–92 season. His performances for Rahmatganj, gave him a chance to represent Dhanmondi giants, Abahani Limited Dhaka, as a guest player during the 1994 Charms Cup in India. At the time, however, there was no shortage of star players at Abahani and so, Alfaz spent most games on the bench.

After being on the fringes at Abahani during his short stay, he moved to mid-table side Arambagh KS in 1994. It was at Arambagh where Alfaz regained his old form and after an impressive season at the club, in 1995, he was called up to the Bangladesh national team for the first time. The following season, he joined Abahani's arch-rivals Mohammedan SC, and thus became one of the most lethal forwards in Bangladesh.

Mohammedan SC
In 1995, after joining Mohammedan, Alfaz became one of the best players in the country during the late 90s. Although, he started his career as an attacking midfielder, in 1996 Mohammedan coach at the time Kang Man-young used him as a striker. Alfaz went on to score in the first two matches in his new position, against Bangladesh Boys Club and Victoria SC, and thus he started playing regularly in that position. He also helped Mohammedan SC win the 1995 Federation Cup as they defeated his former club Abahani Limited Dhaka in the final.

However, during his first season at the club, he failed to win the prestigious Dhaka League title. Nonetheless, the next season saw Alfaz guide Mohammedan to the league title and also help the club reach the second round of the 1996 Asian Cup Winners Cup. In August 1996, Alfaz was named "AFC player of the month" for scoring four goals including a hat-trick in an 8–1 victory over Laotian club Electricity of Lao. During first his spell at the club, Alfaz became the league's second highest scorer twice, with 11 goals in both 1997 and 1999, in addition to that, in 1996, he became the third highest scorer in the league with 10 goals.

Mohun Bagan
Alfaz joined Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan in 2000, alongside Mohammedan teammate Imtiaz Ahmed Nakib. He went onto appear 6 times for the club during India's 2000–01 National Football League, playing as striker behind the Brazilian José Barreto.

Brothers Union & Mohammedan SC
In 2004, Brothers Union, once recognized as the country's third-biggest club in the 80s, signed a plethora of local stars, including Alfaz, Arman Mia, Monwar Hossain, Rajani Kanta Barman and Biplob Bhattacharjee. The star-studded team went on to lift the club's first Dhaka League and National League titles. After returning to Mohammedan in 2005, Alfaz scored against rivals Abahani and also assisted the first goal for Divine Chibiuka, during the final of the 2005–06 National League, as club captain. Mohammedan went on to secure the league title winning the game 2–0. This was Alfaz's fourth consecutive National League triumph. He then once again departed, joining Muktijoddha Sangsad KC for the start of the country's first ever professional league, the B.League in 2007.

Bangladesh Premier League
On 27 March 2007, Alfaz netted the first hat-trick in B.League history as Muktijoddha beat Rahmatganj MFS by 4–1. He scored a total of 8 goals in his inaugural professional league season. In 2008, Alfaz joined minnows Sheikh Russel KC and scored 18 league goals, helping the club finish third in the league, his most memorable performance that season was the hat-trick he scored against Khulna Abahani, as Sheikh Russel won the game 5–0. The following year he returned to his boyhood club Arambagh KS, although he got a better offer from newcomers Beanibazar SC of Sylhet. He scored twice in his return game against Chittagong Mohammedan. He helped Arambagh finish fifth that year, scoring 12 league goals, which was the fourth highest in the league that season.

Final years
In 2010, Alfaz signed for Abahani Limited Dhaka. Although Alfaz was not a regular in the team, he scored during a 3–0 victory over Nepal's Three Star Club in the final of the Bordoloi Trophy. Following his lone season at the club, he joined Team BJMC who were given direct entry to the league in 2012 after 27 years, due to the club's great history. However, the transfer was controversial as the club was not able to submit adequate fees for registration and had unsigned papers.

On 7 April 2013, at the age of 40, Alfaz retired from professional football after a glorious 28-year career which saw him win numerous trophies and individual honors with club and country. During his retirement match, Alfaz captained Mohammedan against Abahani Limited Dhaka in the Dhaka Derby.

International career
Alfaz represented Bangladesh U19 during the 1994 AFC Youth Championship qualifiers and also managed to score in a 2–2 draw with Hong Kong U19.

After playing at Arambagh for a year, Korean coach Kang Man-young selected Alfaz for the 1995 South Asian Gold Cup squad, and handed him his senior international debut on 25 March 1995, against Pakistan. In October 1995, newly appointed German coach Otto Pfister kept him in the team for the 4-nation Tiger Trophy in Myanmar, which became the country's first ever international trophy. However, after returning from Myanmar, Alfaz was dropped from the team.

In 1997, Alfaz made his return to the team under Iranian head coach Samir Shaker. He played all six 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifiers for the country, and scored his first goal during a 2–1 victory over Taiwan, on 18 March 1997. Alfaz went onto play the 1999 SAFF Cup, scoring against Pakistan in the group stages and the winner against Nepal in the semi-finals. However, he was left devastated as Bangladesh crashed out of the final against India.

However, during the 1999 South Asian Games which took place four months after the SAFF Cup ended, Bangladesh overcame India in the semi-finals and went on to win the final, against Nepal. Alfaz scored the only goal during the game, just before the first half ended, thus the nation earned its first gold medal. The following year, Alfaz scored a brace against South Asian counterparts India, during 2000 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.

On 12 February 2001, during the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers held in Dammam, the newly appointed captain Alfaz displayed the best individual performance in his career, as Bangladesh defeated Mongolia 3–0. Alfaz scored the first goal by fainting away from three Mongolian defenders and shooting from outside the penalty area. His second goal was a solo effort, after receiving the ball on the right, he outpaced a defender, and cut inside to score from a tight angle and double his teams lead.

In 2003, Alfaz won his third title for Bangladesh, the 2003 SAFF Championship, Alfaz played all five games during the tournament, scoring against Nepal in the group stages. ALfaz went on to play the 2005 SAFF Championship, however this time his team was defeated in the final. His next goals came against Cambodia and Tajikistan respectively during the 2006 AFC Challenge Cup. The same year Alfaz, announced his retirement from international football after playing the 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. He returned to the national team in 2007 for the Nehru Cup held in India. However, his return was short lived as he was dropped from the national team in 2008, for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC first round.

Managerial career
In 2015, Alfaz got his UEFA C license. He then worked at his former club Mohammedan as an assistant coach. Alfaz went on to coach the Bangladesh Army football team, and was also part of the Bangladesh women's national football team coaching panel. In 2019, Alfaz completed his AFC A license course. On 17 May 2014, Alfaz served as the caretaker head coach of Mohammedan during the absence of Rui Capela during their 1–0 victory over Chittagong Abahani in the 2013–14 Bangladesh Premier League. He returned to his assistant post following the game, after Mohammed Jewel Rana was appointed as caretaker.

Uttar Baridhara
On 11 November 2019, newly promoted Uttar Baridhara appointed Alfaz as the club's head coach, marking his first permanent position in the role. He first took charge of the team durting the 2019–20 Federation Cup. The inexperienced Uttar Baridhara team were not able to score during all three group stage game, as Alfaz took the risk of playing local striker Sumon Reza. On 13 February 2019, Alfaz managed his first league game for the club against Bashundhara Kings, and even though Baridhara defended well they ended up losing the game 1–0. Nonetheless, after a 8-game winless run, Alfaz was removed from his managerial post, in March 2020.

Mohammedan SC
In 2021, Alfaz was made Mohammedan's assistant coach under former national team player Shafiqul Islam Manik.

On 1 March 2023, he was appointed as the interim head coach of Mohammedan SC following Manik's departure.

Personal life
In 2020, Alfaz put up his 1999 Saff-winning jersey on auction to raise money for people affected from the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.

International goals

 * Scores and results list Bangladesh's goal tally first.

Mohammedan SC

 * Scores and results list Mohammedan SC's goal tally first.

Player
Mohammedan SC Abahani Limited Dhaka
 * Dhaka Premier Division League: 1996,1999
 * National League : 2001–02, 2005–06
 * Federation Cup: 1995
 * DMFA Cup: 1995
 * Bangladesh Super Cup: 2013
 * Charms Cup: 1994
 * Super Cup: 2011

Muktijoddha Sangsad KC
 * National League: 2003
 * Federation Cup: 2003

Brothers Union
 * National League: 2004
 * Dhaka Premier Division League: 2003–04

Bangladesh
 * SAFF Championship: 2003
 * South Asian Games Gold medal: 1999
 * 4-nation Tiger Trophy: 1995

Manager
Mohammedan SC
 * Federation Cup: 2022–23

Individual

 * AFC player of the month – 1996 August