Anduud City Striker in Line for First International Cap, Other Attackers Announced
Image property of the MFF
As should be no surprise, the Mongolian Football Federation has announced that Athletic 220 FC's Naranbold Nyam-Osor and UB City's Oyunbaatar Mijiddorj have been named to Mongolia's squad for 2022 World Cup qualification matches.
Mongolia takes on Myanmar in its opening match on 5 September before facing Tajikistan five days later. Both matches will be played on the Blue Wolves' home soil.
The inclusion of Naranbold should be no surprise as the striker is once against leading the Premier League with 17 goals with five matches remaining. He also has the opportunity to become the national team's all-time top scorer as he is currently joint-top with eight goals.
Mijiddorj has also been a consistent threat on the offense with 13 goals so far as Ulaanbaatar City sit in second place in the league.
Erchim FC's 29-year-old striker Tsagaantsooj Enktur has also been called-up. With his explosive play and six goals on the season as Erchim sits at the top of the table, he will be looking to ride his recent success to his first senior international cap since 2016. Previously Enktur's only two caps came against Taiwan and the Northern Mariana Islands for 2017 EAFF Championship qualification
This Enktur should not be confused with the player of the same name who scored Mongolia's first-ever international goal in the year 2000.
A player hoping to receive his first cap during his first senior international call up is Erdene-Ochir Mungunbagana of Anduud City. The player has scored four goals for the season for a City team that can only been described inconsistent after a blistering start.
The 20-year-old is playing in his second Premier League season after topping the scoring charts with 17 goals in 13 matches as his former club Arvis FC won the 1st League that season. After Arvis were quickly relegated back to the 1st League following the 2018 season, Anduud City wasted no time snagging the player after he scored five goals in only seven matches for Arvis.
Mungunbagana has represented Mongolia five times at youth levels. His first call up was for the under-13 team in 2011. His most recent call-up was for the under-19 squad for 2018 AFC U-19 Championship qualification. However, he was unable to attend because of his studies at Russia's Irkutsk University.
A full squad list should be announced soon.
Erdene-Ochir Mungunbagana has been highlighted twice before as a Mongolian player to watch. Read all about him at:
https://www.mongolianfootball.com/single-post/2017/11/25/Erdene-Ochir-Mungunbagana-Mongolias-Next-Star-Striker
and
https://www.mongolianfootball.com/single-post/2019/04/22/From-Rising-to-Risen-Erdene-Ochir-Mungunbagana-is-a-Star