Lalas Abubakar

Alhassan "Lalas" Abubakar (born December 25, 1994) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Major League Soccer club Colorado Rapids.

Lalas Abubakar
Abubakar with Columbus in 2017
Personal information
Full name Alhassan Abubakar
Date of birth (1994-12-25) December 25, 1994
Place of birth Kumasi, Ghana
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Colorado Rapids
Number 6
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013 University of Ghana
2014–2016 Dayton Flyers 61 (4)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015 Charlotte Eagles 14 (2)
2016 Michigan Bucks 12 (0)
2017–2019 Columbus Crew SC 31 (2)
2017 → Pittsburgh Riverhounds (loan) 5 (0)
2019 → Colorado Rapids (loan) 22 (0)
2020– Colorado Rapids 17 (1)
National team
Ghana U20
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of November 8, 2020

Career

College

From 2014 to 2016, Abubakar attended the University of Dayton, where he played for the men's soccer team. Over three seasons, he made sixty one appearances for the team, scoring four times and assisting six times. In the 2015 season, Abubakar won the A-10 Championship with Dayton, and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.[1] In the 2016 season, Abubakar was named the Defensive Player of the Year,[2] and was also named in the A10 Men's Soccer All-Conference First Team.[3]

In the 2015 PDL season, Abubakar played for the Charlotte Eagles,[4] where the team was undefeated in the regular season.[5] He was named in the Eastern Conference Team, and was a finalist for the PDL's Young Player of the Year, losing out to Timothy Mueller. In the 2016 PDL season, Abubakar played for the Michigan Bucks,[4] where the team won the Great Lakes Division (Central Conference) and the PDL Championship.[1] Abubakar was named the PDL Defender of the Year,[6] and was also named in the All-League Team.[7]

Columbus Crew SC

On 13 January 2017, Abubakar was drafted by Columbus Crew SC as their first-round draft pick in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft, and the fifth draft pick overall.[8] During his first season in Columbus, Abubakar split time with Columbus and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in what is now the USL Championship.[9] In total, Abubakar made 15 appearances during his first professional season; ten with Columbus and five with Pittsburgh.[9] Moreover, during his rookie season, he scored his first professional goal on 19 August 2017 against Orlando City SC.[10]

In 2018, Abubakar played in 23 games, scoring one goal.[11] However, despite Abubakar's uptick in appearances, his performances were largely considered inconsistent and he was relegated to a reserve role for new Columbus coach Caleb Porter in 2019.[11] Due to this, and Columbus's depth in the center-back position, Abubakar was sent out to fellow MLS side, the Colorado Rapids. This was a move, that paid off in strides for all parties. Abubakar made 22 appearances for Colorado, while becoming the team's Defender of the Year and helping the resurgent Colorado side make a late season playoff push that ultimately fell short.[12][13]

Abubakar made one appearance with Columbus in 2019 before being loaned to Colorado Rapids in exchange for $125,000 in 2019 Targeted Allocation Money[14]

Colorado Rapids

In 2019, Abubakar made 22 starts among 22 appearances for Colorado and was named the club's Defensive Player of the Year at its annual end-of-year awards gala. On Nov. 20, 2019, Colorado permanently acquired Abubakar from Columbus in exchange for $400,000 in General Allocation Money and a 2020 international roster spot.[15]

Abubakar continued his solid play in 2020, starting 17 regular season matches. Abubakar scored his first Rapids goal in stoppage time to equalize against Houston Dynamo on Sept. 9.[16] Abubakar started and played a full 90 minutes in Colorado's first-round playoff loss to Minnesota United FC.[17] Abubakar finished the season with 24 blocks, which was the second-most in MLS.[18] Abubakar was named the club's Defensive Player of the Year for a second consecutive season.[19] Abubakar signed a contract keeping him in Colorado through the 2024 season with a club option for 2025 on Dec. 15.[20]

International career

Abubakar has been called up to represent Ghana at under-20 level.[1]

Career statistics
As of November 22, 2020[21][22]
Club Season League Playoffs[lower-alpha 1] Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Charlotte Eagles 2015[23] PDL 14221––163
Michigan Bucks 2016[24] PDL 1204010–170
Columbus Crew SC 2017 MLS 713000–101
2018 2311010–251
2019 10–00–10
Total 312401000362
Pittsburgh Riverhounds (loan) 2017 USL 50–00–50
Colorado Rapids (loan) 2019 MLS 2200010–230
Colorado Rapids 2020 MLS 1711000–181
Total 391101000411
Career total 101511130001156
  1. Includes the PDL Playoffs and MLS Cup Playoffs

References
  1. "Lalas Abubakar Will 'Never Forget' PDL Accomplishments". PDL.com. October 13, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  2. "EIGHT MEN'S SOCCER STUDENT-ATHLETES RECEIVE NSCAA ALL-MIDWEST REGION HONORS". Atlantic 10 Conference Official Site. December 6, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  3. "LOEBE, ABUBAKER, HEINE, ZAROKOSTAS AND MCGINTY CLAIM TOP ATLANTIC 10 ANNUAL MEN'S SOCCER AWARDS". Atlantic 10 Conference. Atlantic10.com. November 9, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  4. "LALAS ABUBAKAR". PDL.com. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  5. "Sounders U-23, Pumas among PDL finalists". July 29, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  6. "2016 PDL All-League Awards Announced". PDL.com. August 5, 2016. Archived from the original on August 20, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  7. "2016 PDL All-League Team Unveiled". PDL.com. August 3, 2016. Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  8. "2017 MLS SuperDraft Rounds 1 & 2 Analysis: Columbus Crew SC". mlsmultiplex.com. MLS Multiplex. January 14, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  9. "Ghana - L. Abubakar - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Perform Group. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  10. "Lalas Abubakar waits patiently for Ghana's call". espn.co.uk. ESPN. August 22, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  11. Murphy, Pat (May 8, 2019). "Crew send Lalas Abubakar on season-long loan to Rapids". massivereport.com. Massive Report. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  12. Rapids, Colorado [@ColoradoRapids] (October 7, 2019). "A beast on the backline all year long. / The Defender of the Year award goes to @LALASABUBAKAR1. / #Rapids96 | #Elevatepic.twitter.com/nlQjTW9z9N" (Tweet). Retrieved October 8, 2019 – via Twitter.
  13. Post, Mark Goodman | Special to The Denver (June 21, 2019). "Colorado Rapids defender Lalas Abubakar is going places, and he doesn't seem to mind". denverpost.com. The Denver Post. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  14. "Colorado Rapids acquire defender Lalas Abubakar from Columbus Crew SC on a one-year loan".
  15. "Colorado Rapids acquire defender Lalas Abubakar from Columbus".
  16. "MLS Match Center".
  17. "MLS Match Center".
  18. "2020 MLS advanced stats leaders".
  19. "2020 Colorado Rapids Soccer Club End of Season Awards Gala Winners".
  20. "Rapids Sign Club's Two-Time Defender of the Year Lalas Abubakar to New Contract".
  21. Lalas Abubakar at Soccerway. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  22. Lalas Abubakar at Major League Soccer
  23. "Lalas Abubakar – Premier Development League profile". USLLeagueTwo.com. USL League Two. July 23, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  24. "Lalas Abubakar – 2016 PDL statistics". USLLeagueTwo.com. USL League Two. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
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