Alhassan "Lalas" Abubakar (born December 25, 1994) is a Ghanaian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

Early life

Born in

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...

, Abubakar was raised in the Ghanaian capital of

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

and attended the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

. He participated in the football team at the university and in 2013, after one of his teammates was selected to join the

Dayton Flyers The Dayton Flyers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Dayton of Dayton, Ohio. All Flyers intercollegiate sports teams participate at the NCAA Division I level. The football team competes in the Division I FCS non-schola ...

program in the United States, Abubakar was also offered to join after his friend recommended him. Despite having a couple offers in Europe, Abubakar decided to attend the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and play

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

for the Flyers.

Dayton Flyers

During his three seasons with the

, Abubakar appeared in 61 matches, scoring four goals and earned six assists. During the 2015 season, Abubakar won the A-10 Championship with Dayton, and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2016, Abubakar was named the Defensive Player of the Year, and was also named in the A10 Men's Soccer All-Conference First Team.

Club career

Charlotte Eagles and Michigan Bucks

During the

offseason, Abubakar played for

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

club

Charlotte Eagles The Charlotte Eagles are an American professional soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1991, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at ...

. The team went undefeated during the 2015 season. Abubakar was named in the Eastern Conference team of the season, and was a finalist for the PDL's Young Player of the Year award, losing out to Timothy Mueller. The next season, in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, Abubakar joined the

Michigan Bucks Flint City Bucks is an American association football, soccer team based in Flint, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1995, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The club was founded in 1995 as the Mi ...

. Appearing in 17 matches, Abubakar helped the Bucks win the Premier Development League title, featuring in the final against Calgary Foothills on 6 August, a 3–2 victory. Following the season, Abubakar was named the PDL Defender of the Year. and was also named in the All-League Team.

Columbus Crew SC

On 13 January 2017, Abubakar was drafted by

Columbus Crew SC The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an Soccer in the United States, American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference ( ...

in the first round of the

2017 MLS SuperDraft The 2017 MLS SuperDraft was the eighteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The first two rounds of the 2017 S ...

, and the fifth pick overall. During his first season in Columbus, Abubakar split time with Columbus and the

Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1999 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American so ...

in what is now the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

. In total, Abubakar made 15 appearances; ten with Columbus and five with Pittsburgh. He scored his first professional goal on 19 August 2017 during a 1–1 draw against Orlando City. During the 2018 season, Abubakar played in 23 matches, scoring one goal. Abubakar made one appearance for the Columbus Crew in 2019 before being loaned to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for $125,000 in 2019 Targeted Allocation Money

Colorado Rapids (loan)

During the 2018 season, despite Abubakar's uptick in appearances, his performances were largely considered inconsistent and he was relegated to a reserve role for newly appointed Columbus Crew coach,

Caleb Porter Caleb Porter (born February 18, 1975) is an American soccer coach who most recently served as the head coach of Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew from 2019 to 2022. He was previously head coach of the Portland Timbers from 2013 until 2017. ...

for the 2019 season. Owing to this, and Columbus's depth in the center-back position, Abubakar was loaned out to fellow

club, the

. Abubakar appeared in 22 matches for the Rapids, earning the team's Defender of the Year award and helping the club to make a late season playoff push that ultimately fell short.

Colorado Rapids

Following the 2019 season, on November 20, 2019, Abubakar was permanently traded to the

in exchange for $400,000 in General Allocation Money and a 2020 international roster spot. He made his debut as a permanent member of the Rapids on February 29 in their opening match against

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

. Starting next to

Drew Moor Drew Moor (born January 15, 1984) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a center-back in Major League Soccer. Born in Dallas, Moor began playing college soccer for the Furman Paladins before transferring to the Indiana ...

, Abubakar helped the Rapids to a 2–1 away victory. On 9 September, Abubakar scored his first goal for the Rapids, a late second half stoppage-time equalizer against the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

to draw the game 1–1. Abubakar finished his first season with the Rapids with 18 appearances, all starts, and the one goal. He also earned the Colorado Rapids Defender of the Year award for the second consecutive season. On 15 December 2020, Abubakar signed a new contract with the Colorado Rapids, keeping him at the club until through 2024. He scored his second goal for the club on 21 July 2021, an opening goal in the 48th minute, as the Rapids won 2–0 at home against

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

. He then opened the scoring again for the Rapids on 14 August in a 3–1 away victory against the Houston Dynamo.

International career

Abubakar has been called up to represent Ghana at the under-20 level.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abubakar, Lalas Living people 1994 births Ghanaian footballers Footballers from Kumasi Association football central defenders Dayton Flyers men's soccer players Charlotte Eagles players Flint City Bucks players Columbus Crew draft picks Columbus Crew players Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC players Colorado Rapids players Colorado Rapids 2 players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players USL Championship players MLS Next Pro players Ghanaian expatriate footballers Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States