Abid Hossain: An expat footballer and a football club come full circle
His father, Abul Hossain, coached the Mohammedan side who beat arch-rivals Dhaka Abahani to clinch the Dhaka League title in 2002. Twenty-one years later, Abid, donning the Mohammedan jersey, beat Abahani in a fiery Dhaka Derby to clinch the Federation Cup a few months ago, their first since 2009. A cycle had been completed, both for the Black and Whites and Abid.
Mohammedan SC and Brazil have something in common. They both won their last respective titles - Brazil winning the Fifa World Cup and Mohammedan clinching the Dhaka League - back in 2002.
Being an avid Ronaldo Nazario fan, Abid Hossain remembers all of it. His footballing hero won the World Cup and his father, Abul Hossain, coached the Mohammedan side who beat arch-rivals Dhaka Abahani to clinch the title that year.
"I was about six years old, so I pretty much remember some of it, not most of it. I mostly remember the celebrations," Abid told The Business Standard (TBS) regarding that historic day.
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"The celebration was crazy because they had a huge rivalry. I remember being at the top of the celebration car and I was on Alfaz Ahmed's lap. My dad was in the front seat and we were just going from the stadium. Thousands of fans were screaming 'Mohammedan'."
Twenty-one years later, Abid, donning the Mohammedan jersey, beat Abahani in a fiery Dhaka Derby to clinch the Federation Cup a few months ago, their first since 2009. A cycle had been completed, both for the Black and Whites and Abid.
The final had everything - goals, yellow cards, you name it. Mohammedan fought back from 0-2 down to win it in penalties. They won the tiebreaker 4-2 after the match ended 4-4 in extra time.
"We kept fighting and we believed in ourselves even after going 0-2 down. The rest is history now."
"It was an amazing feeling (beating Abahani in the final). It felt like the old days, definitely," Abid said.
Abid's footballing journey wasn't as easy. He, along with his family, moved to the US right after Mohammedan won their last league title. He grew up there, played for some local teams - West Palm Beach FC and Toluca - before coming back to Bangladesh in 2017. He had to toil hard for his place in the side after being registered without any payment for the first few years.
"It was tough, the first few seasons. I couldn't adjust to the weather. Also the food. The food was a big factor. I was very young at that time. I was like, what, 20,21. I just couldn't handle it mentally."
So why come back leaving everything behind?
"In order to be a professional footballer in the US, you have to go through too many steps. You can become a professional footballer by 16 or 18 here. In the US, you can't do that. You have to be very lucky to be able to play professionally in the US through the academy. I wanted to live my dream to become a professional footballer and I didn't want to wait till I was 23, 24," Abid said.
It was his father, Abul Hossain - who played all his career with Mohammedan (1978-1993) - who pushed Abid to come back to Bangladesh and give it a go.
"My father was telling me 'Why don't you go back to Bangladesh and start playing there. Create a CV and who knows where you can go from there? If you like Bangladesh, you can stay in Bangladesh."
That's when Abid gave it a go and had a trial with Mohammedan in 2017. That time, the coach was Syed Nayeemuddin. He really liked what Abid brought to the table.
Was it financially worth it for Abid coming all the way from the US only to play football?
Well, it wasn't, at first. Abid didn't get any financial support at first. He had to spend his own money the first two seasons. That was the money he saved up from doing part-time jobs for a year after graduating high school.
The language barrier was also a concern for Abid. His native language in the US was English; he can speak Bangla but is still not as fluent.
"It was a long journey and a tough process, but in the end, I think I've made it work."
"It was a long journey and a tough process, but in the end, I think I've made it work," he said.
Abid thinks he is not the only expatriate footballer who is struggling. This is the case for most expatriate players who come to play here in Bangladesh. According to Abid, local footballers have some sort of negative perceptions and are jealous of expatriate footballers.
"I definitely see more expatriates coming to play in Bangladesh. I think a lot of players don't like it, and some officials also don't like it. They don't really like the expatriate footballers coming here," Abid stated.
"I think it has more to do with jealousy. I faced no problems with it, but I heard from different players. Coming from the US, Denmark, Sweden or wherever, the local players think that you're automatically rich. That's not how it works. I had to work for money. Everyone does."
"If I make 25 lakhs, I can live comfortably in Bangladesh. But in the US, the scenario is different. The local players and officials think these expatriate players have a lot of money, so why come to Bangladesh? They just have these negative perceptions," he further said.
Abid dreams of donning the Green and Red jersey of Bangladesh in the future. He said it will be a 'dream come true' for him. For now, Abid is moving away from Mohammedan, stating he wants to change and experience new things in life.
