Emon Shahriar had learned playing football in secret, beyond the radar of his parents who even pressured the local coach to keep the aspiring footballer away from the sport. And fast-forward to present, the 22-year-old forward has been drafted in the Bangladesh preliminary squad for next month's two international FIFA friendlies against Cambodia and Nepal.

Bangladesh coach Javier Cabrera's squad selection took Emon by surprise. Primarily a winger, the 5′10″ player managed to score four goals and assisted three in the recently concluded domestic season.

"Like any footballer, I also dreamt of playing for the national football team. But it has been beyond my thought to get into the national team so quickly after playing the country's top-fight football for the first time," Emon told The Daily Star yesterday.

Asked about his qualities that attracted Cabrera, Emon replied, "I played a number of matches for Mohammedan and I gave my full effort on all occasions. I never gave up despite what the margin was on the scoresheet."

Emon had stood out by intimidating the opposition backline time and again with his daunting runs, dribbling, and shooting from either flank.

During his primary education years, Emon started off as a goalkeeper. But once he reached grade six, his high school teacher in Khulna – Saiful Islam -- positioned him up front with seniors and Emon made the cut in the school team in three years.

Meanwhile, at home, Emon faced strong resistance as his parents wanted their eldest son of four children to build up his career in conventional means; and he didn't make life easy for himself, though. The day before the SSC examination, football-crazy Emon had returned to home at 11 pm and he was unable to pass the academic hurdle in 2017. The next year, however, he redeemed with a GPA of 3.53 and his parents gave him the green signal to play football.

Everything went uphill since then as Emon played the First and Second Division Football league in Khulna in 2018 before being a part of Mohammedan's youth team in 2018. He then joined Bangladesh Army as a soldier through former national forward-turn-coach Alfaz Ahmed.

"One-day Alfaz sir instructed me to go to a Mohammedan trial but I refused, telling him that I would not be able to play for a big club like Mohammedan. I asked him to instead give me an opportunity to play for a team in the Bangladesh Championship League," Emon said.

"I even went into hiding at my home district but Alfaz sir brought me back to Dhaka for the trial and I was selected for Mohammedan for the just-concluded season."