Myanmar’s Shan United FC booked their spot in the inaugural edition of the ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ with a 4-2 aggregate win against Brunei Super League champions Kasuka FC in the two-legged qualifying round play-offs in July.
They will now be placed in Group A and are ready to rub shoulders against some of the finest clubs from the region hoping to replicate their winning pedigree in domestic competitions on the international stage.
Honours
Myanmar National League (5): 2023, 2022, 2020, 2019, 2017
MNL League Cup (2): 2024, 2017
Club Highlights
Shan United have been the most successful clubs in Myanmar football since 2017, winning a joint-record five league titles including the last four in a row, and two League Cup titles with the most recent one coming earlier this year.
Founded in 2003, they’ve also participated in the 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2023-24 editions of the AFC Cup, gaining plenty of experience competing at teams from across Southeast Asia.
Head Coach: Myo Hlaing Win
Myo Hlaing Win is the Myanmar national team’s all-time top-scorer and had a prolific playing career of almost two decades, winning nine league titles with Finance and Revenue FC and he is now aiming to assert similar dominance at Shan United, since being appointed their head coach in 2023. The 51-year-old also won the Golden Boot award at the 1998 AFF Championship, proving his pedigree amongst the region’s finest.
Key Player: Efrain Rintaro
With Ivorian forward Racheen Bello leaving Shan United, Efrain Rintaro has been brought in from FC Osaka to fill the void and the 33-year-old has already delivered. Rintaro scored two crucial first-half goals against Kasuka in the second leg having arrived in Myanmar from Japan, where he had been since 2010.
Born in Curitiba in Brazil, Rintaro moved to Japan with his parents at the age of 14 and went on to score 18 goals to clinch the top scorer award in the 2019 Japan Football League, the fourth tier of Japanese football with Atletico Suzuka, which happens to be the current club of the legendary “King Kazu”, the oldest professional footballer in the world.
One To Watch: Ye Yint Aung
Ye Yint Aung’s breakthrough year was in 2022 when the young winger became the second-highest goalscorer in the Myanmar National League playing for Yadanarbon FC. It prompted a call-up to the senior national team for the first time as he went on to appear in four matches at the AFF Championship 2022 before Shan United secured his services.
Five goals and four assists in his first season at Shan highlighted Ye Yint Aung’s potential, followed by scoring the winner against Phnom Penh Crown helping the club achieve only their second victory in the AFC Cup as the 24-year-old has gradually become a key player for the Taunggyi-based side.
Did You Know?
Shan United have remarkably not lost a league match since February 2020 since they were beaten 1-0 by Ayeyawady United, finishing as Invincibles in the 2022 and 2023 Myanmar National League seasons.
Shopee Cup Fixtures
Đông Á Thanh Hóa FC vs Shan United FC (21 August, 2024)
PSM Makassar vs Shan United FC (25 September, 2024)
Shan United FC vs Terengganu FC (8 January, 2025)
Shan United FC vs BG Pathum United (22 January, 2025)
Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng FC vs Shan United FC (5 February, 2025)
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