Javier Cabrera (football manager)

Javier Fernández Cabrera Martín Peñato (born 4 October 1984) is a Spanish professional football manager who is the current head coach of the Bangladesh national football team.

Cabrera is an UEFA Pro License coach with wide experience in both professional and grassroots football projects. Cabrera also has a reputation as a football analyst. Cabrera has the experience of working as an expert analyst for Opta Sports and he also has a bachelor's degree in football as well as advertising and marketing.

Coaching career
Cabrera worked as a technical director and as an assistant coach for Indian side Sporting Clube de Goa, from 2013 to 2015. In 2016, he was appointed as the manager for Spanish club CF Rayo Majadahonda and spent a year coaching the team, before departing in 2017. Moreover, he was the head coach of FC Barcelona Academy in Northern Virginia for 4 months in 2018. From 2018, Cabrera acted as the Elite Academy coach of La Liga side Deportivo Alavés for 4 years.

Bangladesh national team
On 8 January 2022, Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) announced the appointment of Javier Fernández Cabrera as the new national team head coach. Cabrera signed an 11 month contract during a meeting called by the BFF on 19 January 2022, where he was officially made the head coach of the Bangladesh national team.

Cabrera's first game incharge ended in a 0–2 defeat in a friendly, at the hand of Maldives, on 24 March 2022. In June, Cabrera guided the team to three straight defeats, as Bangladesh finished bottom of their group in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification – third round. The team conceded 8 and scored 2 goals over their qualification campaign.

On 22 September 2022, Cabrera gained his first victory as Bangladesh coach, which came in his seventh match incharge, when Rakib Hossain scored the only goal as Bangladesh edged Cambodia 1–0. However, the following friendly saw the team go down 1–3 to hosts Nepal.

On 11 January 2023, BFF extended Cabrera's contarct for one more year. The new deal meant the Spaniard would remain at the helm until December 2023.

Bangladesh U23
Cabrera was given the duty as head coach of the Bangladesh national under-23 team for the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.