Twenty years is a long time to chase something. Mamunul Islam began his pursuit on a gymnastics mat at BKSP, transferred it to a football pitch, and did not stop until he had collected 67 caps, 16 domestic trophies, a league title with Atletico de Kolkata, and a place in history as the only non-Indian South Asian player to sign for an inaugural Indian Super League side. Along the way he captained his country, set a domestic transfer record, and scored the goal that ended Bangladesh’s 28-year wait for a win at the Asian Games. On 1 May 2026, he finally put it all down.
He spoke to Daily Times of Bangladesh about the BKSP years, the battles with federation officials, the Kolkata spell and whether his landmark move to India ultimately meant anything for the players who came after him, the offers from Spain and Malaysia, the state of the current Bangladesh midfield, and what retirement looks like for a man who has spent half his life on a football pitch.
How did your journey in football begin?
Mamunul: It started in 2000 at BKSP. I played both football and cricket as a child. In 1997 I joined BKSP in gymnastics, in class five. In 2000 I transferred from gymnastics to football, and that is where my football journey began. I joined BKSP as a sportsman alongside a student, so whatever sport you play there, you treat it as a profession from day one. When I made the Under-17 national team in 2002, I committed to football as my profession. When our professional league started in 2007, it was no longer simply the Bangladesh League, it was a professional league. From that point football became my profession.
What were the biggest challenges in your early career, and how did you handle them?
Mamunul: With the senior players and the most senior players inside the team, we had no problems. They were very helpful. The problems started with the federation officials. Young players had to make difficult decisions alongside officials and club management. The only way to handle it was to perform. Performance is the answer. When you perform, any coach is forced to play you. Officials may want to drop you, but if you keep performing on the pitch, they cannot keep you on the bench for long.
Can you talk about your specific clashes with federation officials?
Mamunul: My first big problem at the federation was with Syed Hasan Kanon, a BFF Executive Committee member now, during the BNP government. Kanon sat on the national team management committee and handled almost everything. Our row started over a match. He wanted me to play for Badda, and I chose to play for Brothers Union instead. After that he pushed to drop me from the Under-17 side, then from the Under-20, then from the Under-23. None of it worked, because I kept playing and the coach wanted me in the team. Once I broke into the national team in 2007, that committee was no longer in place, so there was no trouble. The problems started again in 2010, after I received the captaincy, this time with Abu Nayeem Shohag, the BFF general secretary.
What stands out as your favourite moment in a Bangladesh shirt?
Mamunul: Wearing the Bangladesh jersey itself has been my favourite moment. From the day I first wore it in 2007, the jersey and the flag have been my dream and everything. That is my biggest achievement.
What was your debut like?
Mamunul: We played at Shah Alam Stadium in Malaysia. My biggest challenge was to play the match, make my place in the national team and then keep it. We lost the debut 1-0 to Indonesia. My debut went well and the three matches I played on that trip went well, but I contracted jaundice in Malaysia and took some time to recover.
Who was the hardest opponent you faced in international football?
Mamunul: Australia was the strongest opponent I played against. They drew 2-2 with the Netherlands in a FIFA friendly around that period, so that tells you the standard. I played against them in Perth and in Bangladesh. There is always pressure when you face a team of a far higher standard. Coming back into a game like that is not easy, but we tried to fight on the pitch. We built a defensive block, and they broke it. They took advantage through long balls, their players are all tall, they cannot play short but they dominate the air and set pieces. Tim Cahill scored a hat-trick against us in the second match in Bangladesh.
How dangerous was Tim Cahill?
Mamunul: His name comes up among the best goal-scorers in the world. He played in the English league and he is one of Australia’s best strikers. Stopping him is difficult. You can plan all you want against Messi and you still cannot stop him. Cahill played against us.
Tell us about your experience with Atletico de Kolkata. How did that move come about?
Mamunul: I played in a squad captained by Luis Garcia, a World Cup winner. I played against Alessandro Del Piero, and the squad also included David Trezeguet, Robert Pires, Florent Malouda, Roberto Carlos and the Brazilian Elano. Luis Garcia is called a legend at Liverpool and in Spain, and I played in a side he led. Getting that chance was a big challenge for me. At my first press conference in Kolkata I said my time there was not only about my own performance, but about opening the door for more Bangladeshi players to play in the league later. That did not work out, and this generation may not understand the reason. This is the Hamza generation. For them the Indian Super League is not important, they focus on the English Premier League, the top league in the world. For us, at that time, the Indian Super League was the biggest league available to our country.
Why did you struggle for game time at Atletico de Kolkata?
Mamunul: My main problem was that I had two or three Bangladesh national team commitments during that window. I could not do the conditioning training. If you miss conditioning training, the coach does not really know you. The officials signed me, but a coach learns the player only by spending time with him. My coach had very little time with me. I missed conditioning for the Asian Games, and I flew back to Bangladesh three times to play FIFA friendlies. No one else came, so I had to go.
You also had interest from Spain and Malaysia. What happened with those moves?
Mamunul: I am talking about 2014 and 2015. My coach Antonio Lopez Habas told me to play in the Spanish first division and said he would create the opportunity for me. The problem was that I did not have an agent, and no player in the world signs a contract without an agent. The Malaysia offer came after we played a Malaysian club in the second Bangabandhu Gold Cup in Bangladesh. That side asked me to sign for them. But financially I was earning 40 to 50 lakh taka in Bangladesh at the time. If Malaysia offered 20 lakh taka, the move did not make sense.
You have spoken about social media noise around those offers, did those affect you?
Mamunul: Social media carried a lot of stories, and I do not care. Otto Pfister once said that if the rickshaw-pullers in this country understand football, then progress here is not possible. That is not a joke. We played 15 years of international football, so we understand. Put some of these critics on the pitch and they will wet their pants. I do not have time to worry about what fake accounts on social media say.
How do you assess the development of Bangladesh football from your debut to now?
Mamunul: In those days we had no internet. Now modern technology is everywhere and you can watch any match on a mobile phone. Today we have the Hamza craze. If you list Bangladesh’s top players today, it still does not land the same way. The earlier generation named Salahuddin bhai, Munna bhai, Aslam bhai. Does today’s generation know the football Aslam bhai played? This is Gen Z. They do not know Alfaz bhai. Alfaz was once the best player in Asia. You have to accept today’s reality. The standard has not really shifted, only the grades around it. A huge amount of students now finish school with Golden A-plus, but that does not mean you stop giving respect who used to rank in previous era. Respect is something you pick up at home, from your father and your brother. Nothing much has actually changed. We still play at the National Stadium, the same stadium we used before independence. Tell me what has changed. We had Abahani and Mohammedan then, we have Abahani and Mohammedan now. People understood less football back then, today they understand more, but they drift in and out like migratory birds. We respect the supporters. Come and watch football. You are our strength, but you should also give the players respect. Players have served the country for free. Unlike the cricketers, we do not receive crores of taka from the government. The cricket board does not give us anything, the football federation does not give us anything. What we want in return is two words of respect and good behaviour.
Which players influenced your style the most?
Mamunul: At the start I followed David Beckham very closely. That is 1998 to 2004. Then Lionel Messi came along. Then the generation changed again, and now people follow Lamine Yamal at Barcelona.
Our current midfield is the best in South Asia. Can Bangladesh qualify for the Asian Cup on the back of the midfield alone?
Mamunul: No. You need a top striker, the way India had Sunil Chhetri. You need a top goalkeeper and a top defender. With the midfield as your backbone you can fight, but winning matches on that alone is very hard. You also need good wingers and good full-backs. I do not think our current full-backs are capable in modern terms. We are behind on modern full-backs. If I compare them with our generation, the gap is huge. Nasir Uddin Chowdhury played right-back for us, always overlapping, always crossing, creating goals. Wali Faisal and Atiqur Rahman Meshu did the same. Today Saad Uddin plays left-back. I am not belittling Saad, he is the fittest man around. But our side-backs overlapped constantly. Look at Brazil in 2002 and 1998. They had Roberto Carlos and Cafu, two of the best full-backs in the world. They scored and they created goals, their tournament runs were built on that. We have to improve in every area. We trust Hamza Choudhury and Shamit Shome. Zayyan Ahmed has come in, and we have to trust him too. We need another winger to come through alongside Rakib Hossain, and we need a proper number-nine goal-scorer. Once we have that, qualification becomes much easier.
What are your plans after retirement?
Mamunul: No plans yet. I have a government job. I will give some time to that service.
Looking back, what part of your career are you most proud of?
Mamunul: Winning the South Asian Games football gold medal. We won that title unbeaten, I captained that team, we did not concede a goal in the tournament, and I scored the first goal of the tournament. That is the most special achievement for me. Another special moment is the AFC Club Cup zonal semi-final with Abahani. My winning goal against Chennai kept us alive in the qualifying round. Then there is the Asian Games goal, when my goal won the match and Bangladesh won a football match at the Asian Games after 28 years. The IFA Shield run in Kolkata is another one. We beat Mohun Bagan 1-0 in the quarter-final and beat East Bengal 3-0 in the semi-final, back to back, on their home ground at Salt Lake. That was a special thing for the whole team.
