Jeje Lalpekhlua Fanai (born 7 January 1991) is an Indian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a striker, and last appeared with

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

club East Bengal. Between 2011 and 2019, he scored 23 goals in 56 international matches representing

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He is the second-highest Indian goalscorer in

history and the record highest scorer for Chennaiyin. Jeje won the

2014–15 I-League The 2014–15 I-League (known as the ''Hero I-League'' for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the I-League, the Indian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 17 Januar ...

with

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 ...

and the

2015 Indian Super League The 2015 Hero Indian Super League was the second season of the Indian Super League, a professional football league played in India since 2014. The season features eight teams. The regular season kicked off on 3 October and ended on 6 December, ...

with Chennaiyin, subsequently winning the 2015–16 FPAI Indian Player of the Year and the AIFF Men's Player of the Year Award.

Club career

Youth career

Born in the small village of Hnahthial in

Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo", the self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo language means "lan ...

, Lalpekhlua 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. Lalpekhlua made his debut for the Model Sporting Club four months after his father had retired from the club. Despite initial hesitation from his parents in pursuing football professionally, Lalpekhlua came to light after a spectacular performance at the Wai Wai Cup held in

. On account of his strong performance, Lalpekhlua made it to the Mizoram U-19 team. He impressed youth coach Colm Toal at the U-19 selection camp in

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

and got selected for U19 qualifiers.

Pune

Jeje was spotted by the

Pune FC Pune Football Club was an Indian professional football club based in Pune, Maharashtra. The club has competed in the I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system. The club was one of the most professional clubs in Indian foot ...

scouts and he signed for the Red Lizards at the age of 16. Initially playing in their youth setup, Jeje would make his senior debut for

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, who were then in the

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 ...

, during the 2009 I-League 2nd Division season. The then 18-year old, scored against Sporting Goa on 17 October 2009 in a 2-2 draw, during the 2009–10 I-League season. He scored again in the same season against Chirag United in a 1-1 draw.

2010-11 season: Pailan Arrows (loan)

On 1 July 2010, Jeje signed for

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 ...

newcomers

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 tal ...

on a one-year loan basis from parent club

for the 2010-11 I-League season. The

team was only made up of Indian under-19 players. During the 2010 Indian Federation Cup, he scored 1 goal for

in the two games he played. On 3 December 2010, Jeje took part in

first

game, against Chirag United, in a 2-1 loss. On 8 December 2010, Lalpekhlua scored his first ever goal for

against ONGC FC in a 1-1 draw. After that, Jeje went on a huge goal-scoring run and earned a lot of praise by many top

AIFF Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) is an audio file format standard used for storing sound data for personal computers and other electronic audio devices. The format was developed by Apple Inc. in 1988 based on Electronic Arts' Interchange File ...

personnel. On 13 March 2011, Jeje scored 4 goals against

Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the ...

in an

match which ended in a 5–2 win. He again scored 4 goals against

in a thrilling 5-4 win, on 29 May which also was his last match for the club. He finished his stellar season with 13 goals in 15 appearances, also becoming the top-scoring Indian player of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

. 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 Lenny Rodrigues (born 10 May 1987) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Goa in the Indian Super League. Career Early career Born in Cortalim, Goa, began to develop a passion for football when his grandfa ...

2011-12 season: Back to Pune

On 7 July 2011, it was announced that Lalpekhlua was to return to his parent club

for the 2011-12 I-League season. Lalpekhlua made his first start and his first overall game for

since his return from

, on 17 September 2011 during the Federation Cup group stage match against

Dempo Dempo Mining Corporation Limited is a prominent mining company from the western Indian state of Goa. The mineral business was founded by Mr. Vasantrao S. Dempo in 1941 along with his younger brother Mr. Vaikuntrao Dempo. Mr. Vasantrao S. Demp ...

in a 2-1 win. Jeje then scored his second goal in the Federation Cup on 19 September 2011 against

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 ...

at the

Salt Lake Stadium The Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK; ), commonly known as the Salt Lake Stadium, is an all-seater multi-purpose stadium located in Bidhannagar, with current capacity of 85,000 spectators. Named after Swami Vivekananda, the stadium f ...

in a 2-1 loss. Jeje started the

2011–12 I-League The 2011–12 I-League was the fifth season of the I-League. The season began in October 2011 and ended in May 2012. Salgaocar are the defending champions, having won their maiden title in the previous season. The current edition has a tota ...

season as a regular starter for

. In the second game of the

he scored his first goal in the 78th minute to make the score a 1–2 against Sporting Goa, which ended 2–2 on 28 October 2011. Jeje continued his scoring form in the next match as he scored against Chirag United in what was Pune's first win of the

in a 3–1 win on 1 November 2011. He then scored another goal in the I-League against

in the 26th minute on 19 November 2011. Despite the goal, Pune still lost the match 3–1. On 3 January 2012, Jeje came on as a substitute and scored in the 36th minute against

in a 2-1 win, which also was his last goal of the

. He finished the

with 5 goals.

2012-13 season

Jeje scored his first goal of the season in the 51st minute, against now dissolved

United Sikkim United Sikkim Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Gangtok, Sikkim. Founded in 2011, the club usually competed in the Sikkim Premier Division League. United Sikkim is the only club from Sikkim to have played in the I- ...

in the 2012 Indian Federation Cup in a 1-0 win, on 20 September 2012. Jeje then scored in the club's first game of 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 ...

season on 8 October 2012, in a 3-2 win against ONGC when he converted from the spot kick. He again scored 3 days after, against

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

in another 3-2 win. He made his final appearance for the club against

on 28 April 2012. He finished the I-League season with 5 goals in 19 appearances.

Dempo

On 15 June 2013, Jeje signed for

on a two-year contract. Jeje made his debut for the Goan side during the 2013-14 I-League season, on 22 September 2013 against Shillong Lajong, in which he came on as a substitute for Mandar Rao Dessai in the 55th minute, as

lost the match 3-0. He scored his first goal of the club, a week later, against

in a 1-1 draw. He scored his 5th and final goal for the club against his former club

, on 28 April 2014 in a 3-0 win.

Mohun Bagan

On 28 May 2014, it was announced that Jeje would sign a one-year deal with

. On 11 August 2014, Jeje scored in his debut, in the 41st minute by earning and converting a penalty, in what proved to be the only goal in a 1–0 win in a match against

Tollygunge Agragami Tollygunge Agragami Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Tollygunge, Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1943, the club primarily competes in the Calcutta Premier Division League. It previously participated in the Natio ...

in the

Calcutta Football League The Calcutta Football League (CFL) is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of West Bengal, organised by Indian Football Association (WB), under state football leagues in India. Due to sponsorship reasons, the league is offi ...

. On 11 August 2014, Jeje scored in his debut, in the 41st minute by earning and converting a penalty, in what proved to be the only goal in a 1–0 win in a match against

in the

Chennaiyin (loan)

In 1 September 2014, Jeje was loaned out to Chennaiyin for the inaugural 2014 ISL season by

. On 15 October 2014, Jeje made his debut for the club against

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

, coming on as a substitute for Balwant Singh in the 80th minute. He scored his first goal for the club on 28 October 2014, against

Mumbai City Mumbai City Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014, during the inaugural season of ...

in the 26th minute in a thumping 5-1 win. On 16 December 2014, Jeje scored a crucial goal for Chennaiyin against

Kerala Blasters Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established i ...

in the 2nd leg of the 2014 Indian Super League playoffs semi-final, which took the game to extra time. Chennaiyin won the game by 3-1, but failed to qualify for the finals on aggregate. He finished the

with 4 goals in 13 appearances, which also made him the India top-scorer of the season.

Return to Mohun Bagan

On 31 December 2014, Jeje returned to his parent club

after his loan spell with Chennaiyin for the

season. On 28 January 2015, he made his

debut for

against Salgaocar, coming on a substitute for Balwant Singh in the 76th minute in a 0-0 draw. He scored his only goal of the 2014-15 I-League season against his former club

on 25 April 2015 in a 2-0 win.

Chennaiyin

Jeje was retained by Chennaiyin for the

2015 Indian Super League season The 2015 Hero Indian Super League was the second season of the Indian Super League, a professional football league played in India since 2014. The season features eight teams. The regular season kicked off on 3 October and ended on 6 December, w ...

. He scored his first goal of the

in the opening match on 3 October 2015, against defending champions ATK in a 3-2 loss. He scored his first career ISL brace against then ISL club

Delhi Dynamos Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

on 24 November 2015 in a 4-0 thrashing. He also scored in the 1st leg of the semi-final playoffs against ATK on 12 December 2015 in a 3-0 win. He played in the 2015 Indian Super League Final on 20 December 2015, winning the 2015 ISL title for the first time. He finished the

with 6 goals and 3 assists in 11 appearances. He was also chosen as the Emerging Player of the Season. Jeje scored 9 goals from 20 appearances in the

2017–18 Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federati ...

including twice in the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

semil-final against

. Chennai won their second ISL title with a 3–2 win over Bengaluru in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

and Jeje become the first Indian season top-scorer of the club. 2018–19 Indian Super League season saw a drop in Jeje's form as he only managed to score a single goal in 16 appearances while Chennai finished the season bottom of the table. Jeje missed whole 2018–19 season due to a major knee injury. On 8 September 2020, Jeje announced his exit from the club after six years of association.

Mohun Bagan (loan)

On 8 January 2016, Jeje was loaned to

by parent club Chennaiyin for the 2015-16 I-League campaign. On his return, he scored his first goal against

Tampines Rovers Tampines Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Tampines, Singapore, that competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of Singapore football league system. Founded in 1945, the club have won the national league c ...

in the preliminary round of the qualifying stage for the

2016 AFC Champions League The 2016 AFC Champions League was the 35th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 14th under the current AFC Champions League title. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors defeated Al-Ain ...

group stage, which ended in a 3-1 win. He then scored his first league goal of the

on 13 February 2016, against eventual champions Bengaluru in a 2-0 win. On 24 February 2016, Jeje scored a brace against Maziya in the

2016 AFC Cup The 2016 AFC Cup was the 13th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya defeated Bengaluru FC in the final to win their first AFC Cup title, becoming ...

group stage match, in a 5-2 drubbing. He again scored a brace against

Yangon United Yangon United Football Club ( my, ရန်ကုန် ယူနိုက်တက် ဘောလုံးအသင်း ) is a Burmese football club, based at Yangon United Sports Complex, in Yangon, Myanmar. Owned by Tay Za, a prominent Bu ...

in the

group stage match, on 16 March 2016, in a thrilling 3-2 win. He finished the 2015-16 I-League season with 4 goals in 14 appearances, finishing runner-up to Bengaluru in the process. He also had a productive AFC Cup campaign, chipping in with 6 goals in 7 appearances. He started the 2015–16 Indian Federation Cup campaign by scoring a brace against Salgaocar in the quarter-final 1st leg 3-2 win. He then scored a hat-trick against Shillong Lajong in the semi-final 1st leg 5-0 drubbing, on 8 May 2016. On 21 May 2016, he capped off his exceptional season with

, by scoring in the

against

Aizawl Aizawl (; Mizo: ) is the capital of the state of Mizoram in India. Aizawl was officially established on 25 February 1890. With a population of 293,416, it is the largest city in the state. It is also the centre of administration containing all ...

and winning his first Federation Cup trophy. He was adjudged as the top goal-scorer of the 2015-16 Indian Federation Cup campaign with 8 strikes. He was named as the Best Indian Player by his fellow professionals for his stupendous 2016-17 season.

East Bengal

On 18 October 2020, Jeje joined

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 ...

on a one-year deal ahead of the

2020–21 Indian Super League season The 2020–21 Indian Super League season was the seventh season of the Indian Super League (ISL) since its formation and the 25th season of the top division of the Indian football league system. The season started on 20 November 2020 and ended ...

. He scored in a 6–5 loss against

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

International career

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

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. On 21 March 2011, Lalpekhlua made his senior debut in the

2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification The 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification phase saw eight teams advance to the final tournament in Nepal. The qualification draw was held on 20 October 2010, in AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Seeding The seedings are based on the 2010 AFC Cha ...

match against Chinese Taipei and also scored his first goal. On 23 March 2011, Lalpekhlua scored two more goals in his second match against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, also in the Challenge Cup qualifiers. On 25 March, he scored the fourth goal of his international career in a draw against

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

. On 28 July 2011, Lalpekhlua scored a goal in a 2–2 draw against the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

in the

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

phase. The draw was a historic moment, but it wasn't enough to help India advance as they lost 3–0 in the first leg. Then, on 16 November 2011, Lalpekhlua scored against

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

in a 3–2 friendly win. After impressing in a trial with Rangers of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, Lalpekhlua participated in his first competitive tournament, the SAFF Cup and started the first match of the tournament against

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

on 3 December 2011. His first goal did not come until 7 December 2011, when he scored against Sri Lanka. Then, he followed it up by scoring in the final as India defeated Afghanistan 4–0 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on 11 December 2011. In a historic 1–4 win against

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

at the

2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup was the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in the United Arab Emirates from 5 January to 1 F ...

, he scored the fourth and last goal of the match. However, India lost their next two matches and were eliminated in the group stage.

Career stats

Club

''Statistics accurate as of 8 October 2021''

International statistics

International goals

Under–23

Senior team

:''Scores and results list India's goal tally first.''

Unofficial international goal

Honours

India * SAFF Championship: 2011, 2015; runner-up:

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* Intercontinental Cup:

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India U23 * SAFF Championship: 2009 Mohun Bagan *

: 2014–15 * Federation Cup: 2015–16 Chennaiyin *

: 2015 *

: 2017–18 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 *

Fans' Player of the Month: December 2017

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lalpekhlua, Jeje 1986 births Living people People from Lunglei district Mizo people Indian footballers Footballers from Mizoram I-League players India international footballers India youth international footballers Pune FC players Indian Arrows players Dempo SC players Mohun Bagan AC players Indian Super League players Chennaiyin FC players Association football forwards Footballers at the 2010 Asian Games 2019 AFC Asian Cup players Asian Games competitors for India