It was reward for the former national custodian's successful stint with the Bangladesh Under-17 team. He led the juvenile team to the AFC Under-17 finals in Japan next September with a 3-0 aggregate win over Kyrgyzstan at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur earlier this month.

Now living in the United States, Shantoo initially signed a three-month contract with the BFF on August 13. But his good work prompted the BFF to assign him a tougher mission.

Shantoo will fly to America in the first week of next month to spend some time with his family. After coming back he will take over as Bangladesh Under-23 coach for the SAF Games to be held in Pakistan next March.

The management committee led by Kazi Salahuddin also decided to start the camp for the 2006 World Cup qualifiers early next month.

The committee named Golam Sarwar Tipu and Mahmudul Haq Liton to supervise the national camp, which will start with 30 players.

"We will allow the players to take part in the Federation Cup for their respective clubs only on match days," said secretary of the committee Syed Hasan Kannan.

Bangladesh will open their World Cup qualifying campaign against Tajikistan sometime in November.