Aiborlang Khongjee (born 1987) is an Indian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

plays as a defender. He mainly plays as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, Aiborlang can also on the

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Early life

Aibor, as he is affectionately called, belongs to a small town named Lyngkhat in

East Khasi Hills district East Khasi Hills is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India. The district headquarters are located at Shillong. The district occupies an area of 2752 km² and has a population of 825,922 (as of 2011). , it is the most ...

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...

. Football was his love since school days. He had also played Subroto Cup for his school Raidlaban Higher Secondary School. After his Class X exams, he moved to

Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in ...

to join the

Sports Authority of India The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is the apex national sports body of India, established in 1982 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of Government of India for the development of sports in India. SAI has 2 Sports Academic institution ...

. He started watching international football, and soon became a fan of

John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the assi ...

. He has been a fan of

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. Among the Indian defenders,

Mahesh Gawli Mahesh Gawli (born 23 January 1980) is an Indian football coach and former footballer who played as a centre-back and represented India national football team on 68 occasions between 2000 and 2011. Club career Gawli was born in Goa and began ...

has been his favourite. He left SAI in 2005, and joined the local team Shillong Lajong next year as a stopper back.

Career

East Bengal

In 2007, he was signed by

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

club

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

from Shillong Lajong. However, an injury-hit season meant that he got very few opportunities in the big club, and subsequently was sent back to his former club. However,

Subrata Bhattacharya Subrata Bhattacharya is an Indian football manager and former professional footballer who played as a defender for the Indian national team and spent 17 years playing for Mohun Bagan. He was the stopper back for Mohun Bagan during 1975 IFA Sh ...

, the coach of the Red & Gold Brigade used Aiborlang as the side back for the first time.

Shillong Lajong

Having the experience of playing

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

for

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

, he was made the captain of the Shillong Lajong for the 2009–10 season, as they prepared for their

debut. In the 2009–10 season, he had given the hosts an early lead from the spot kick against

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

in the 54th minute, but later strikes from

Chidi Edeh Chidi Edeh (born 18 August 1987) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker. He played most of his career for clubs in India. Career Dempo In 2007, Edeh signed with I-League side Dempo SC and appeared in 15 league matches. H ...

and Marcos Pereira meant the hosts lose 1–2.

Mohun Bagan

On 24 March 2013 in the

2012-13 I-League 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, he scored with a header on the 5th minute against

Pailan Arrows Indian Arrows (formerly known as Pailan Arrows) was an Indian developmental football club that competed in the I-League. The club was formed by the All India Football Federation in 2010, with a main goal of nurturing young Indian football talen ...

, and then assisted

Tolgay Özbey Tolgay Özbey (born 12 April 1986) is an Australian professional soccer player, who last played for Rockdale City Suns in the National Premier Leagues NSW as a striker. Biography Australian Clubs Early in his career, Özbey was recognized ...

on the 19th minute.

Return to Shillong Lajong

In August 2014 Khonjee joined Shillong Lajong for the third time in his career.

Honours

India *

SAFF Championship The South Asian Football Federation Championship, commonly known as SAFF Championship (previously known as ''South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation Gold Cup'' and ''South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup''), is the main international ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Shillong Lajong *

I-League 2nd Division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind Indian ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Personal life

Khonjee is a member of the

Khasi people The Khasi people are an ethnic group of Meghalaya in north-eastern India with a significant population in the bordering state of Assam, and in certain parts of Bangladesh. Khasi people form the majority of the population of the eastern part of M ...

External links

* http://goal.com/en-india/people/india/29498/aibor-khongjee * http://www.indianfootball.com/en/statistic/player/detail/playerId/698 * https://web.archive.org/web/20100425025723/http://www.shillonglajong.com/aibor-khongee

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khongjee, Aibor Indian footballers 1987 births Living people People from East Khasi Hills district Khasi people Footballers from Meghalaya Shillong Lajong FC players East Bengal Club players Mohun Bagan AC players I-League players Indian Super League players NorthEast United FC players India international footballers Association football defenders