Abahani appoint Lemos as head coach

Federation Cup champion Abahani Limited appointed former Bangladesh team’s fitness coach Mario Licinio Guerreiro Lemos as the new head coach of the club. 

The Portuguese coach served as the head coach of Malaysian top-flight club Negeri Sembilan before joining the Sky Blues.

Lemos arrived in Dhaka Sunday at 1pm and immediately joined the Abahani dug-out during the club’s win over Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra in their Independence Cup opener in the afternoon. 

Lemos is a known face to the most of Abahani’s national players.

“The best advantage of signing Mario is that he knows almost all the Abahani players. He has good idea about football here. We had talks with him earlier but he couldn’t join us because of his commitment with his previous club in Malaysia,” said Abahani manager Satyajit Das Rupu.

Super sub Faisal Ahmed Shitol stole the show by scoring two quick goals in the second half to guide Federation Cup champion Abahani to a comfortable 2-1 win over Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra in their Independence Cup opener at in Dhaka Sunday.https://t.co/wvgwAzWsUJ#BFF

— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) December 2, 2018

Lemos, an Uefa A licensed coach, talked to the reporters after the game and informed that his seven-month contract with Sembilan ended on November 30 this year. 

He said, “I worked with Andrew Ord (former Bangladesh head coach) for three months but it was more than the job of a fitness trainer. I got offer from Malaysian Super League then, but I always wanted to come back, and I wanted to come back as head coach.”

Lemos added, “It’s special to become Abahani coach. I’ve been watching the game and saw the Federation Cup. I know 80% of the Abahani players. It was very quick I arrived and wanted to sort of win this game. Lot of players like Topu [Barman], Sunday [Chizoba] was out [Sunday] but it was a good performance.”

Lemos joined the national team’s coaching staff during the end of former Australian Ord’s tenure in March this year. 

He accompanied the national team in their residential camp in Qatar in February and two practice matches in Thailand and an international friendly against Laos.