Jeje Lalpekhlua

Jeje Lalpekhlua

Lalpekhlua in 2011
Personal information
Full nameJeje Lalpekhlua Fanai
Date of birth7 January 1991
Place of birthMizoram, India
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 12 in)[1]
Playing positionForward
Club information
Current team
Mohun Bagan
Number7
Youth career
2007–2008Pune
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2008–2013Pune54(15)
2010–2011Pailan Arrows (loan)15(13)
2013–2014Dempo18(4)
2014–Mohun Bagan7(1)
2014Chennaiyin FC (loan)13(4)
National team
2008–2009India U192(4)
2010–2011India U238(5)
2011–India21(8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 07:00, 28 April 2015 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 06:57, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

Jeje Lalpekhlua is an Indian footballer who currently plays for Mohun Bagan in the I-League.

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 Indian national football team. He also played a crucial role in India's 2011 SAFF Cup championship victory.

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 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 wuld 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]

Loan to Chennaiyin

In September 2014, Lalpekhlua was loaned out to Chennaiyin FC for the 2014 Indian Super League season. 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.[26]

International

Jeje with 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.[27] 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.[28] 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.[29] On 25 March he scored 4th goal of his international career against Turkmenistan which helped India tie the match.[30] 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.[31] 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.[32] 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.[33] He then scored his first goal of the tournament on 7 December 2011 against Sri Lanka.[34] 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.[35] He played a sensational game against Lebanon U22 and scored brace in that match, he came up in 65min from the bench.

Stats

Club

Statistics accurate as of 28 April 2015[36][37]

Club Season League Federation Cup Durand Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Pune 2009 I-League 2nd Division23000023
2009–10 I-League1720000172
Pailan Arrows (loan) 2010–11 I-League151311001614
Pune 2011–12 I-League1652200187
2012–13 I-League1953121247
Dempo 2013–14 I-League1852000205
Mohun Bagan 2014–15 I-League714000111
Chennaiyin FC (loan) 2014 ISL134134
Career 107 38 12 4 2 1 0 0 121 43

National team statistics

Statistics accurate as of 12 March 2015

India national team
YearAppsGoals
2011104
2012 34
2013 60
2014 20
Total218

International goals

Under–23

Senior team

Honors

International

India

Individual

References

  1. http://int.soccerway.com/players/jeje-lalpekhlua/100674/
  2. "Jeje Lalpekhlua : Next Superstar of Indian Football". Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  3. "Jeje Lalpekhlua Player Profile". soccerway. 3 September 2011.
  4. "Jeje Lalpekhlua Player Profile". soccerway. 3 September 2011.
  5. Sengubta, Rahul (10 September 2010). "Indian National Team: I Would Like To See India Reach The Last Eight Of 2011 Asian Cup – AIFF President Praful Patel". goal.com.
  6. Das Sharma, Amitabha (26 September 2010). "East Bengal through". The Hindu.
  7. Sengupta, Rahul (3 December 2010). "I-League: Three Points For Chirag As AIFF XI Rue Missed Opportunities". goal.com.
  8. "Pailan Arrows vs ONGC Lineups and Statistics". goal.com. 8 December 2010.
  9. "Air India vs Pailan Arrows Lineups and Statistics". goal.com. 13 March 2011.
  10. "HAL Bangalore vs Pailan Arrows Lineups and Statistics". goal.com. 3 April 2011.
  11. "Striker Jeje set to return to Pune FC". IBN Live. 7 July 2011.
  12. Srivastava, Ayush (17 September 2011). "Federation Cup: Ten Men Pune FC Register Narrow Win Over Dempo". goal.com.
  13. "East Bengal scrape past Pune FC; Wahingdoh triumph". the-aiff.com. 19 September 2011.
  14. Srivastava, Ayush (26 September 2011). "FPAI Awards: Mehtab Hussain Walks Away With Dual Honours In Gala Indian Football Awards Ceremony In Kolkata". goal.com.
  15. Bali, Rahul (29 October 2011). "Pune FC 2–2 Sporting Clube De Goa – Home Side Comes Back To Earn A Point". goal.com.
  16. "Pune FC vs Chirag United Club Kerala Lineups and Statistics". goal.com. 1 November 2011.
  17. "LIVE TEXT COMMENTARY". Pune FC. 19 November 2011.
  18. "Jeje Lalpekhlua completes 'dream' move to Dempo SC". Goal.com. 15 June 2013.
  19. http://www.goal.com/en-india/match/122544/dempo-sc-vs-shillong-lajong-fc/report?ICID=OP
  20. Shikharr Chandra (28 May 2014). "Mohun Bagan confirm the signing of Jeje Lalpekhlua". Goal.com. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  21. Amoy Ghoshal (27 May 2014). "I-League: Mohun Bagan to sign Jeje Lalpekhlua". yahoo news. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  22. "Mohun Bagan 1–0 Tollygunge Agragami: The Mariners kick off with a win in the Calcutta Football League". Goal.com. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  23. Nikhil Jitendran (24 April 2015). "Pune FC 0-2 Mohun Bagan: Mariners re-establish three point gap at the top". Goal.com. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  24. "Chennaiyin go top after comfortable victory over Pune City". Indian Super League.com. 19 November 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  25. "ISL: Chennaiyin FC crush Pune City 3-1, move to top of the table". Rediff.com. 19 November 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  26. http://www.indiansuperleague.com/chennaiyin-fc/squad/forward-10696-jeje-lalpekhlua-playerprofile
  27. Bali, Rahul (23 February 2011). "Pre-Olympic Qualifiers: India 2–1 Myanmar – Desmond Bulpin's Side Win First Leg But Asean Outfit Score Crucial Away Goal". goal.com.
  28. "AFC Challenge Cup 2012 Qualifiers: India 3–0 Chinese Taipei – Perfect Start For Team India". goal.com. 21 March 2011.
  29. "AFC Challenge Cup 2012 Qualifiers: Pakistan 1–3 India – Great Second Half Comeback By Team India". goal.com. 23 March 2011.
  30. "AFC Challenge Cup 2012 Qualifiers: Turkmenistan 1–1 India – Jeje Scores Again As Unbeaten Team India Win Group B". goal.com. 25 March 2011.
  31. Bali, Rahul (28 July 2011). "India 2–2 (2–5 aggregate) UAE: A Two Goal Fight Back Not Enough For Armando Colaco’s Boys To Keep The 2014 World Cup Dream Alive". goal.com.
  32. Singh, Upender (16 November 2011). "Chhetri's brace seals it for India". the-aiff.com.
  33. Singh, Upender (3 December 2011). "India split points with Afghanistan; Sri Lanka win". the-aiff.com.
  34. Datta, Nilanjan (7 December 2011). "Clinical India romp into SAFF Championship semis". the-aiff.com.
  35. Datta, Nilanjan (11 December 2011). "The march is on – India defend title with ease". the-aiff.com.
  36. http://int.soccerway.com/players/jeje-lalpekhlua/100674/
  37. http://www.soccerpunter.com/players/100674-Jeje-Lalpekhlua
  38. "2013 AIFF Awards given away to Footballers in New Delhi". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 14 February 2014.

External links

Dempo S.C.