Diego Andres Cruciani was the head coach of Abahani Limited during the debut season of the country’s professional football league won by the Sky Blues eventually.
The Dhanmondi powerhouse clinched the Bangladesh Premier League title five more times since then but none in the last five editions.
Portuguese coach Mario Lemos guided the traditional giants for quite a while, orchestrating a historic AFC Cup knockout berth, but the club could not beat big-budget Bashundhara Kings in the title race during his tenure.
Bidding Lemos farewell, Abahani soon announced the name of the new head coach earlier this month and it was none other than the 61-year old Argentine tactician Cruciani.
Cruciani landed in Dhaka Monday morning and began training sessions at the club ground the following day, confirmed Abahani manager Nazrul Islam.
The team have been taking preparation for the curtain raiser Independence Cup which is kicking off Friday.
Abahani were Cruciani’s first club in Bangladesh.
He joined the Sky Blues in 2007 after guiding Bangladesh national football team to the final of the 2005 SAFF Championship.