Jeje Lalpekhlua

Jeje Lalpekhlua (born 7 January 1991) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a centre forward for Indian Super League club Chennaiyin FC. He is a player of the India national football team.

Jeje Lalpekhlua
Jeje in 2011
Personal information
Full name Jeje Lalpekhlua Fanai
Date of birth (1991-01-07) 7 January 1991
Place of birth Hnahthial, Mizoram, India
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Chennaiyin FC
Number 12
Youth career
2007–2008 Pune
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2013 Pune 54 (16)
2010–2011 → Pailan Arrows (loan) 15 (13)
2013–2014 Dempo 18 (5)
2014–2015 Mohun Bagan 12 (1)
2014 → Chennaiyin (loan) 13 (4)
2015– Chennaiyin 56 (19)
2016 → Mohun Bagan (loan) 14 (4)
2017 → Mohun Bagan (loan) 17 (5)
National team‡
2008–2009 India U19 2 (0)
2010–2011 India U23 13 (6)
2011– India 56 (23)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 November 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 28 November 2019

He is the second-highest Indian goalscorer in the Indian Super League since its inception, and he is the record highest goalscorer for Chennaiyin FC In 2015, he won the I-league with Mohun Bagan and the Indian Super League with Chennaiyin, and was subsequently named the FPAI Football Player of the Year.

Career

Youth career

Born in the small village of Hnahthial in Mizoram, Jeje was born in a football fanatic family. His father and elder brother played for a local Mizoram club – The Model Sporting Club, while his uncle represented Mizoram in the Santosh Trophy. Jeje made his debut for the Model Sporting Club four months after his dad had retired from the club.

Despite as initial hesitation from his parents in pursuing football professionally, Jeje came to light after a spectacular performance at the Wai Wai Cup held in Mizoram. On account of his strong performance Jeje made it to the Mizoram U-19 team and never looked back. Jeje impressed youth coach Colm Toal at the U-19 selection camp in Gwalior and got selected for U19 qualifiers.

Pune

Jeje was spotted by the Pune F.C. scouts and he signed for the Red Lizards at the age of 16. He then went on to captain the India U19 team in the South Asian Games.[2] Initially playing in their youth setup, Jeje would make his senior debut for Pune, who were then in the I-League 2nd division, during the 2009 I-League 2nd Division. It is only known that he had played nineteen games and scored five goals in his first two season at Pune.[3]

Pailan Arrows (loan)

For the 2010–11 I-League season, Lalpekhlua signed for I-League newcomers Indian Arrows on a one-year loan basis from parent club Pune.[4] The Indian Arrows was only made up of Indian under-19 players.[5] During the 2010 Federation Cup, he scored 1 goal for Indian Arrows in the two games he played.[6] On 3 December 2010, Lalpekhlua took part in Indian Arrows first I-League game ever against Chirag United, the final score was 2–1 in Chirag United's favour.[7] On 8 December 2010, Jeje scored his first ever goal for Indian Arrows against ONGC FC.[8] After that Lalpekhlua went on a huge scoring run and earned a lot of praise by many top AIFF personnel. On 13 March 2011 Lalpekhlua scored four goals against Air India in an I-League match which ended 5–2 in favour of Indian Arrows.[9] He was then also declared man of the match in his club's 4–0 win over HAL on 3 April 2011.[10]

Back to Pune

On 7 July 2011, it was announced that Jeje was to return to his parent club Pune in the I-League.[11] Jeje made his first start (and his first overall game) for Pune since his return from Indian Arrows, on 17 September 2011 during the Federation Cup group stage match against Dempo. During the match Jeje scored his first goal in over a year for Pune en route to a 2–1 victory.[12] Jeje then scored his second goal in the Federation Cup on 19 September 2011 against East Bengal at the Salt Lake Stadium.[13] On 26 September 2011, he won the FPAI Best Young Player Award for the 2010–11 season, beating out players like Raju Gaikwad and Lenny Rodrigues.[14] After winning the FPAI Best Young Player Award, Jeje started the 2011–12 I-League season as a regular starter for Pune. In the second game of the season he scored his first goal in the 78th minute to mark the start of a comeback to make the score a 1–2 against Sporting Goa in a match which ended 2–2 on 28 October 2011.[15] Jeje continued his scoring form in the next match as he scored against Chirag United in what was Pune's first win of the 2011–12 I-League season in a 3–1 win on 1 November 2011.[16] He then scored another goal in the I-League against Dempo in the 26th minute on 19 November 2011. Despite the goal Pune still lost the match 3–1.[17]

Dempo

On 15 June 2013, Jeje signed for Dempo on a two-year contract.[18] Lalpekhlua made his debut for the Goan side in the I-League on 22 September 2013 against Shillong Lajong at the Duler Stadium in which he came on as a substitute for Mandar Rao Desai in the 55th minute, as Dempo lost the match 0–3.[19] He scored his 2nd goal of the season on 9 October against Salgaocar at the Duler Stadium on the 81st minute; the game eventually finished 1–1.

Mohun Bagan

On 28 May 2014, it was announced that Lalpekhlua would sign a one-year deal with Mohun Bagan.[20][21] On 11 August Lalpekhlua made his debut for Bagan in a match against Tollygunge Agragami in the Calcutta Football League. In the 41st minute of the same match, Lalpekhlua earned and converted a penalty in what proved to be the only goal in a 1–0 win.[22] On 25 April 2015 Lalpekhlua scored his first League goal for Mohun Bagan in a 2–0 win at Pune.[23]

Chennaiyin (loan)

In September 2014, Jeje was loaned out to Chennaiyin for the 2014 Indian Super League season by Mohun Bagan. On 19 November Lalpekhlua scored his first goal from a Balwant Singh assist in a 3–1 win over FC Pune City.[24][25] Jeje finished as the top scoring Indian player in the league with 4 goals.

Chennaiyin

Jeje signed a 2-year contract with Chennaiyin for the 2015 Indian Super League season.[26] In the second season with Chennaiyin, Jeje scored 6 goals, including a goal in the first leg of the semi-finals as well as recording 3 assists en route to winning the title. He was also chosen as the Emerging Player of the Season.[27]

Mohun Bagan (loan)

Jeje was loaned back to Bagan by parent club Chennaiyin for the 2015-16 I-League campaign.[28] He had an excellent season where he won the Federation Cup with Bagan where he finished as the top scorer in the tournament with 8 goals, while finishing runner-up to Bengaluru FC during the I-League campaign, contributing 4 goals. He also had a productive AFC Cup chipping in with 6 goals [29] and was awarded the Indian Player of the Year title by his peers.[30]

Chennaiyin

Jeje started the first match of the 2016 Indian Super League season away from home against Kolkata, providing an assist in a match that ended 2–2. He scored his first goal of the season against Pune from a long ball from Jerry which he lobbed above Pune goalkeeper Edel.[31]

International
Jeje playing for India

On 23 February 2011 Lalpekhlua played his first game and scored his first goal for the Indian U-23 team in the 2–1 victory over the Myanmar U-23 team.[32] On 21 March 2011, Lalpekhlua made his debut for the senior India national football team in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification against Chinese Taipei and scored a goal.[33] On 23 March 2011 Jeje scored 2 more goals in his second match for the Indian national football team against Pakistan in another AFC Challenge Cup Qualification match.[34] On 25 March he scored 4th goal of his international career against Turkmenistan which helped India tie the match.[35] During India's second leg of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers against the United Arab Emirates on 28 July 2011 Jeje scored a goal to help India to a 2–2 draw at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi, India but India still were knocked-out 5–2 on aggregate after losing the away leg 3–0.[36] Then on 16 November 2011 Jeje scored in the 47th minute for India against Malaysia in a Friendly played at the Salt Lake Stadium. The match ended 3–2 in favour of India.[37] After impressing in a trial with Rangers of Scotland, Jeje participated in his first competitive tournament, the SAFF Cup and started the first match of the tournament against Afghanistan on 3 December 2011.[38] He then scored his first goal of the tournament on 7 December 2011 against Sri Lanka.[39] Then he followed it up by scoring his second goal of the tournament in the Final as India managed to beat Afghanistan 4–0 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on 11 December 2011.[40] He played a sensational game against Lebanon U22 and scored brace in that match, he came up in 65min from the bench. He scored his 10th and 11th goal against Maldives in the Saff Cup semifinals. He recently scored a goal against Puerto Rico in an International friendly played in Mumbai, making it 7 goals in his last 7 games for the Indian National side. He scored only goal for India against Kyrgyzstan on 27 March 2018 but later his goal proved to be just a consolation goal for INDIA since India lost 2-1 to Kyrgyzstan in their last Asian cup qualifier game.

He scored the only goal in a win against Afghanistan in the SAFF Cup group stage match in Bangladesh. He led the Indian U19 team to the South Asian games in Sri Lanka. In the last group stage match he scored a hat-trick against Pakistan in a 5–1 win. He also scored four goals in his first three senior appearances for the India national football team. He also played a crucial role in India's 2011 SAFF Cup championship victory. In the 2015 SAFF Cup, he scored 3 goals, including an equalizer in the final as India won 2–1 after extra time.

Stats

Club

Statistics accurate as of 28 November 2019[41][42]

Club Season League Federation Cup/Super Cup Durand Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Pune 2009 I-League 2nd Division230000––23
2009–10 I-League1720000––172
2011–12 1652200––187
2012–13 1953121––247
Pune Total 54155321006119
Pailan Arrows (loan) 2010–11 I-League15131100––1614
Dempo 2013–14 1852000––205
Chennaiyin (loan) 2014 Indian Super League134––––––134
Chennaiyin 2015 116––––––116
2016 93––––––93
2017–18 20910––––219
2018–19 16141––51253
2019–20 0000––0000
Chennaiyin Total 69235100517925
Mohun Bagan 2014–15 I-League1214000––161
Mohun Bagan (loan) 2015–16 14458––972819
2016–17 17551––953111
Mohun Bagan Total 43101490018127531
Career Total 19966271421231325194

International statistics
As of 14 January 2019[43]
India national team
YearAppsGoals
2011158
201200
201360
201400
2015103
201665
201794
201872
201931
Total5623

International goals
As of 6 January 2019

Under–23

Senior team
Scores and results list India's goal tally first.[44]

Unofficial international goal

Honours

International
India

Club
Mohun Bagan
Chennaiyin FC

Individual
  • FPAI Best Young Player Award: 2010–11
  • AIFF Emerging Player of the Year: 2013
  • Indian Super League Emerging Player of the League: 2015
  • Federation Cup Top Goalscorer: 2015–16
  • Federation Cup Best Player: 2015–16
  • FPAI Indian Player of the Year: 2015–16
  • AIFF Player of the Year: 2016
  • Indian Super League Fans' Player of the Month: December 2017[45]
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