Mohammed Mahe Khan has earned a call-up to the senior Bangladesh squad for November's South Asian Championships.

That is despite the fact that he is just 18 and is playing in the ninth tier of English football.

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The striker currently plays for Moulton in the South Premier Division, and he has been in great form.

Khan has nine goals in just seven games so far this season to earn his call-up.

And the man who has called him up is an American who captained the USMNT at the 1998 World Cup.

81-cap US international Thomas Dooley was born in Germany due to his father serving in the United States Army.

As a result, he spent the majority of his career in Germany in the Bundesliga.

And he is taking a big gamble on Khan, with the squad having to be selected before any training camp can take place.

He said: “We are going to take a young player, Mahe Khan. We will have a look at him in camp.

"However, we have to announce the final 28-man squad before the camp begins, so we won’t have the opportunity to assess him during training before making the decision.

“Selecting him now is almost like leaving it to chance.

"We believe he might be able to do the job we need. That’s the situation at the moment.”

South Asian Championship 2026

The South Asian Championship is the primary competition for countries that are part of the South Asian Football Federation.

Bangladesh are the hosts this year, with the tournament kicking off on Thursday, November 5 and coming to an end on Tuesday, November 17.

It is contested between six sides, with every game being played at the national stadium in Dhaka.

This will be the 15th edition of the tournament, with India being the most successful team.

They have won it nine times and are the highest-ranked team on the FIFA list.

Bangladesh won it once in 2003 and will be looking to claim it once more on home soil.

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The six teams are divided into three groups, with two teams from each making the semi-finals.

The winner of Group A faces the runner-up in Group B and vice-versa, with the victors in those clashes meeting in the final.

Dooley's career

Dooley played the majority of his games for Kaiserslautern and won the Bundesliga with them and Homburg, but his form did get him a move to a couple of Germany's biggest clubs.

In 1994, Bayer Leverkusen came calling before he headed to Schalke and then to the USA with Columbus Crew and Metro Stars.

On the international stage, he made 81 senior appearances for the US and appeared at two World Cups.

In 1994, he played every minute, and in 1998, he was the captain for the US before receiving a testimonial match in February 1999 and going down as one of the first proper men's US footballers to make an impact in Europe.