Mohamed Masoud Rana

Mohamed Masoud Rana (মোহাম্মদ মাসুদ রানা; born 1 January 1972) is a retired Bangladeshi professional footballer who played as a left back or as a centre midfielder.

Early career
In 1986, Masoud participated in the Ershad Gold Cup football tournament representing Sirajganj District. He was later included in a camp arranged by the National Sports Council in Dhaka, which consisted of the best 60 players in the tournament. Masoud eventually gained admission to Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP) on 10 March 1986 following a successful training camp. He participated in many inernational tournaments in India, Malaysia and Brunei playing as a left back for BKSP. In 1988, he won the Under-16 Youth Gold Cup in Dhaka, where BKSP were competed against different divisional teams. He later partook in the Ma-O-Moni Gold Cup as a guest player for Abahani Limited Dhaka.

Club career
Masoud, who initially joined Abahani Limited Dhaka as a guest player at the Ma-O-Moni Gold Cup in Chittagong, soon became a regular starter and was integral in the club's BTC Club Cup triumph the following year, before contractually joining the club. He won the Dhaka Premier League title in his first full season at the club in 1992. Initially joining as a binding player, Masoud was supposed to play for Abahani without remuneration for two seasons; however, after impressing during his debut year, he was awarded Taka 2.5 lakh through the recommendation of club official Salman F Rahman.

Nonetheless, due to the gentleman's agreement among Brothers Union, Mohammedan and Abahani to lower player wages, Masoud was one of the 11 players signed by heavy spending Muktijoddha Sangsad KC in 1994. He won the Dhaka Premier League in both 1997–98 and 2000 with Muktijoddha, while in his first season he won the Federation Cup, the club's first major title. He also represented the Freedom Fighters at the 1999–2000 Asian Club Championship over two legs against Mohun Bagan. In 2001, he joined Mohammedan SC where he would win the 2000 Dhaka Premier League, Federation Cup and 2002 National League as club captain. In December 2004, Masoud joined Brothers Union and won the domestic double, as Brothers were crowned both Dhaka Premier League and Federation Cup champions in 2005. Masoud also represented the Oranges during both the 2005 AFC Cup and 2006 AFC Cup. He remained with Brothers for the 2007 B.League, the inaugural edition of the country's first professional league and eventually retired following 2009–10 Bangladesh League.

International career
Masoud was a member of the first Olympic national team and participated in the 1992 Summer Olympic qualifiers. During the qualifiers, he scored the team's first ever goal, coming in a 2−3 defeat to Thailand U23. In 1992, Masoud captained the Bangladesh U19 team during the 1992 AFC Youth Championship qualifiers held in Kerela, India. Maosud was handed his Bangladesh national team debut the previous year, during the 1991 South Asian Games, where he would win bronze.

During the 4-nation Tiger Trophy held in Myanmar, coach Otto Pfister would use Masoud as a central midfielder, as Bangladesh went on to win their first international trophy. He initially decided to quit the national team after Iraqi coach Samir Shaker kept him on the bench for the entirety of the 1999 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup in Goa, India. Nonetheless, after being convinced by BFF official and former national player, Badal Roy, Masoud returned to the team for the 1999 Bangabandhu Cup, and was named man of the match in their 1–0 victory over Malaysia U23.

Samir Shaker included Masoud in 1999 South Asian Games bound national team, and started him during both group-stage matches against Sri Lanka and Maldives. However, due to picking up a suspension he missed the semi-final victory over India and was eventually benched for the final as Bangladesh won gold by defeating hosts Nepal 1–0, after which Masoud officially retired from international duty.

Personal life
Masoud was political science student at Dhaka University and also captained its football team at the Sher-e-Bangla Cup in 1996.

Honours
Abahani Limited Dhaka
 * Dhaka Premier League: 1992
 * BTC Club Cup: 1991

Muktijoddha Sangsad KC
 * Dhaka Premier League: 1997–98, 2000
 * Federation Cup: 1994
 * Mahanagari Cup: 1997
 * McDowell's Cup: 1998

Mohammedan SC
 * Dhaka Premier League: 2002
 * Federation Cup: 2002
 * National League: 2002

Brothers Union
 * Dhaka Premier League: 2005
 * Federation Cup: 2005

Bangladesh
 * South Asian Games Gold medal: 1999
 * 4-nation Tiger Trophy: 1995