| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jeje Lalpekhlua | ||
| Date of birth | 7 January 1991 | ||
| Place of birth | Hnahthial, Mizoram, India | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in) [1] | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Pune | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2007-2010 | Pune | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2008-present | Pune | 28 | (9) |
| 2010–2011 | → Indian Arrows (loan) | 15 | (13) |
| Total | 43 | (22) | |
| National team | |||
| 2008-present | India U19 | 2 | (4) |
| 2010-present | India U23 | 7 | (3) |
| 2011-present | India | 16 | (8) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19 November 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Jeje Lalpekhlua is an Indian footballer who currently plays for Pune F.C. in the I-League. He is being dubbed as the next Baichung Bhutia and is being dubbed as one of the brightest prospects for Indian football.
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 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 Indian national football team. He was also an important player in India's 2011 SAFF Cup championship victory.
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From 2007-2010 Lalpekhlua played for Pune F.C. of the I-League. It is only known that he had played nineteen games and scored five goals. [2]
For the 2010-11 I-League season, Lalpekhlua signed for I-League newcomers Indian Arrows on a one year loan basis. [3] The Indian Arrows is only made up of Indian Under-19 players. [4] During the 2010 Federation Cup he scored 1 goal for Indian Arrows in two games played. [5] On December 3rd 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 favor. [6] On December 8th 2010 Lalpekhlua scored his first ever goal for Indian Arrows against ONGC FC. [7] After that Lalpekhlua went on a huge scoring run and earned a lot of praise by many top AIFF personnel. On March 13th 2011 Lalpekhlua scored four goals against FC Air India in an I-League match which ended 5-2 in favor of Indian Arrows. [8] He was then also declared man of the match in his club's 4-0 win over HAL on April 3rd 2011. [9]
On July 7th 2011 it was announced that Jeje has signed for his former club Pune F.C. in the I-League. [10]
Jeje made his first start (and his first overall game) for Pune since his return from Indian Arrows on September 17th 2011 during the Federation Cup group stage against fellow I-League opposition Dempo. During the match Jeje scored his first goal in over a year for Pune on route to a 2-1 victory. [11] Jeje then scored his second goal of the Federation Cup on September 19th 2011 against Kingfisher East Bengal F.C. at the Salt Lake Stadium. [12] He then on September 26th 2011 won the FPAI Best Young Player Award for the 2010-11 season beating out players like Raju Gaikwad and Lenny Rodrigues. [13] After winning the FPAI Best Young Player Award Jeje started the 2011–12 I-League season in the starting line-up for Pune. In the second game of the season for Pune he scored the first goal in a comeback from behind night for the club in the 78th minute to make the score 1-2 against Sporting Clube de Goa in a match which ended 2-2 on October 28 2011. [14] The next game Jeje continued scoring as he scored once again against Chirag United Club Kerala in what was Pune's first win of the 2011-12 I-League season 3-1 on November 1 2011. [15] He then scored another goal in the I-League against Dempo in the 26th minute on November 19 2011. Despite the goal Pune still lost the match 3-1. [16]
On February 23rd 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. [17] On March 21st 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. [18] On March 23rd 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. [19] On March 25th he scored 4th goal of his international career against Turkmenistan which helped India tie the match. [20] During India's second leg of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers against the United Arab Emirates on July 28th 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. [21] Then on November 16 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 favor of India. [22] 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. [23] He then scored his first goal of the tournament on the 7 December 2011 against Sri Lanka. [24] 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.[25]
Statistics accurate as of 29 December 2011
| Club | Season | League † | Fed Cup ‡ | International ¶ | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | ||
| Pune | 2008 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2009-10 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 4 | 0 | |
| Indian Arrows | 2010–11 | 15 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 14 | 0 |
| Pune | 2011-12 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 0 |
| Career | 43 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 25 | 1 | |
† I-League, ‡ Federation Cup, ¶ AFC Champions League
Statistics accurate as of 11 December 2011
| India national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2011 | 16 | 8 |
| Total | 16 | 8 |
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 21 March 2011 | MBPJ Stadium, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia | Chinese Taipei | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification |
| 2. | 23 March 2011 | MBPJ Stadium, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia | Pakistan | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification |
| 3. | 23 March 2011 | MBPJ Stadium, Petaling Java, Malaysia | Pakistan | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification |
| 4. | 25 March 2011 | MBPJ Stadium, Petaling Java, Malaysia | Turkmenistan | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification |
| 5. | 28 July 2011 | Ambedkar Stadium, New Delhi, India | United Arab Emirates | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier |
| 6. | 16 November 2011 | Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, India | Malaysia | 2–1 | 3–2 | Friendly |
| 7. | 7 December 2011 | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi, India | Sri Lanka | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2011 SAFF Cup |
| 8. | 11 December 2011 | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi, India | Afghanistan | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2011 SAFF Cup |