Murun Altankhuyag

Murun Altankhuyag (Mongolian: Алтанхуягийн Мөрөн, Altankhuyagiin Mörön;[2] born 21 September 1989) is a Mongolian international footballer who plays for Ulaanbaatar City of the Mongolian Premier League as a striker.[3]

In this Mongolian name, the given name is Mörön. Altankhuyag is a patronymic, not a family name.
Murun Altankhuyag
Personal information
Date of birth (1989-09-21) 21 September 1989
Place of birth Ulan Bator, Mongolia
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Ulaanbaatar City
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009 Hannibal-LaGrange Trojans 11 (1)
2010–2012 Central Methodist Eagles 37 (18)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Selenge Press
2008–2009 Ulaanbaatar University
2013–2015 Krabi
2014 → Satun United (loan)
2015 Mačva Šabac
2016 Selenge Press
2016– Ulaanbaatar City
National team‡
2007– Mongolia 14 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 02:20, 3 February 2017 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 02:27, 3 February 2017 (UTC)

Club career

Born in Ulan Bator, Murun began playing soccer at age 12.[4] He played for Mongolian Premier League clubs Selenge Press and Ulaanbaatar University from 2006–2008 and 2008–2009, respectively.[5] He then played college soccer in the United States for the Hannibal-LaGrange University Trojans and the Central Methodist Eagles, both of the NAIA.[6] In his one season at Hannibal-LaGrange, he tallied 1 goal and 2 assists in 11 matches.[7] He scored his goal against the Truman Bulldogs on 3 November 2009.[8] During his three seasons at CMU, he made 37 appearances and tallied 18 goals and 6 assists.[9] He initially received an invitation to Hannibal-LaGrange after vying for a scholarship against 120 other candidates from Europe and Latin America.[10]

He signed a two-year contract with Krabi F.C. of the Thai Division 1 League in December 2013, becoming Mongolia's first ever professional footballer and one of the first footballers to play abroad.[11][12][13] He made his debut for the club on 9 April 2014 in a Cup match against Khonkaen F.C., the club's rivals. Despite Murun scoring a goal in the match, Krabi was eliminated by the eventual 1–2 defeat.[14] Between the opening match of the season in February and mid May, he made only two appearances for the club. He moved on loan to Satun United in May 2014 to secure more playing time[15] and was Regional League South Division runner-up that season.[16] He played his first match for Satun United on 10 May 2014 in a Cup match.[17] He trained with Suphanburi FC of the Thai Premier League to become acclimated to the weather of Thailand before joining Krabi. Also prior to joining Krabi, he initially trialed with Rangsit F.C., also in Thailand, and Lao Toyota F.C. of the Lao Premier League.[18] He was offered a professional contract by Lao Toyota but opted to join Krabi because of a preference to play in Thailand over Laos.[9]

He signed for Serbian First League club Mačva Šabac in March 2015 on a 1-year contract,[19][20] becoming one of the first professional Mongolian footballers in Europe.[11][21] He was signed by the club without a trial after he was recommended to Ivica Kralj by Dragan Anicic, head coach of FK BSK Borča, another Serbian team with which Murun trialed before FK Mačva Šaba.[22] He trialed with three Serbian clubs in total.[19] He also received invitations from clubs in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina but did not attend because of visa and insurance issues.[23]

In January 2016, Murun returned to Mongolia and re-signed for Selenge Press FC after Mačva Šabac were relegated to the Serbian League. His contract was terminated because Serbian rules did not allow non-Serbian nationals to be on the roster of teams in the third division or lower.[24] The player stated his return to the club was temporary while he searched for another professional club abroad. On 22 May 2016, he scored a goal in his first match back with the club, a 2–1 victory over FC Ulaanbaatar.[25]

In May 2016, Murun joined fellow Mongolian Premier League club Ulaanbaatar City.[3]

International career

Murun represented Mongolia at the youth level, including matches against South Korea and North Korea for the U15 side.[10] He made his senior international debut for Mongolia on 21 November 2007 in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against North Korea.[1][26] At age 16, he was the youngest player ever called up to the senior squad at the time of his debut.[27]

International goals
Scores and results list Mongolia's goal tally first.[1]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
114 April 2009MFF Football Centre, Ulan Bator, Mongolia Macau
1–1
3–1
2010 AFC Challenge Cup qualification
221 July 2014GFA National Training Center, Harmon, Guam Northern Mariana Islands
3–0
4–0
2015 EAFF East Asian Cup
Last updated 5 June 2016

International statistics

As of 2 January 2017[1]

Mongolia national team
YearAppsGoals
200720
200800
200941
201000
201120
201200
201300
201431
201510
201620
Total142

Honours
Ulaanbaatar City

References
  1. "Player profile". National-Football-Teams.com. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  2. "А.Мөрөн Монголын анхны мэргэжлийн хөлбөмбөгчин боллоо" (in Mongolian). Eagle.mn. 30 December 2013. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  3. Murun Altankhuyag at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  4. "Young Murun making Mongolian history". FIFA. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  5. "Facebook profile". Facebook. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  6. "Profile". Central Methodist Eagles. Archived from the original on 2012-12-11.
  7. "2009 NAIA Stats". NAIA. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  8. "Hannibal-LaGrange vs Truman (Nov 03, 2009)The". Truman Athletics. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  9. "Althankhuyag makes Mongolian history". Central Methodist Athletics. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  10. "A.Mörön's biography is really amazing". ugluu.mn. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  11. Grimm, Justin. "Ankhbayar Batmunkh: One of Mongolia's Forgotten Legionnaires". Mongolian Football Central. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  12. "Murun Altankhuyag, le 1er joueur professionnel mongol". PKFoot (in French). Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  13. Bhas Kunju (28 December 2013). "Mongolia's first professional player". Goal.com. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  14. "A.Mörön made debut" (in Mongolian). news.mn. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  15. "А.Мөрөн "Сатун Юнайтед" багт зээлээр тоглоно" (in Mongolian). News.mn. 4 June 2014. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  16. "Summary of the Thai Regional League Division 2 South 26th Round 2014". Udon News. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  17. NANJID, D. "Murun Participated in First Games" (in Mongolian). Ikon. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  18. Zuchi, B. "А.Мөрөнгийн мөрөөдөл биелэх мөч ойртсоор байна" (in Mongolian). Ikon. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  19. TÖGÖLDÖR, A. "Монгол хөлбөмбөгчин анх удаа Европын багтай гэрээ байгууллаа" (in Mongolian). Ikon. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  20. А.Мөрөн Сербийн "Мачва" багтай гэрээ байгууллаа Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine
  21. "Murun Altankhuyag signed a contract with the Serbian First League club FK Mačva Šabac". News Mongolia. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  22. Eggenberger, Peter. "FIFA Weekly: "Facebook and Youtube helped my career"" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  23. "Serbia is confident that "playing Machva" team will excel" (in Mongolian). ssport.mn. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  24. "А.Мөрөн "Сэлэнгэ пресс" багтаа тоглож байна" (in Mongolian). MM Info. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  25. "А.Мөрөн "Хүрхрээ" дээд лигт тоглож байна" (in Mongolian). news.mn. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  26. Murun Altankhuyag – FIFA competition record
  27. Badamtsetseg, U. "I will try my best as my international career begins". mongolia.gogo.mn. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
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