ISL 2020-21: Who is Bengaluru FC’s interim head coach Naushad Moosa?

Indian Super League (ISL) outfit Bengaluru FC parted ways with head coach Carles Cuadrat on Wednesday. The club has stated that they are actively looking for a suitable replacement but for the time being, assistant coach Naushad Moosa will take over the reins. Incidentally, Moosa is also the head coach of the club’s reserve side as well as the head of youth development.

https://twitter.com/bengalurufc/status/1346788813935284227

The 49-year-old is a former Indian defender who played for East Bengal, Mahindra United and Mohammedan Sporting besides representing the national side between 1994 and 1998. Starting his career with the Kolkata giants, he was a part of the side that created history by beating J League outfit Verdy Kawasaki in the Asian Cup Winners Cup in 1997. He also played an important role in the club’s IFA Shield victory the same year, beating KBF-FC Kochi 3-2 in the final. It was towards the end of his spell at Mohammedan SC however, when he decided to take up coaching on the advice of then Mohammedan head coach Biswajit Bhattacharya.

The AFC Pro license holder started his coaching career with Mumbai FC’s youth side in 2008. He then had quite an unremarkable stint at Air India before moving onto coaching Pune FC’s youth side. Under him, Pune FC won two U-20 titles and the Pune Football League once. He finally joined Bengaluru in 2017 and has since helmed multiple roles at the club. Having worked with both Albert Roca and Carles Cuadrat, it remains to be seen if he can use all his learnings in steadying the ship after a difficult ISL campaign so far.