Sukham Yoihenba Meitei (born 7 February 2004) 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 le ...

who plays as a midfielder for the Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters FC.

Club career

Early life and career

Born in

Thoubal , nickname = , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = View of thoubal.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = , pushpin_map = India Manipur#India , pushpin_label_posit ...

, Manipur, Yoihenba started his youth career with the under-16 division of

NEROCA FC NEROCA FC is an Indian professional association football, football club based in Imphal, Manipur, that competes in the I-League. The club made its I-League 2nd Division debut in the 2015–16 I-League 2nd Division, 2015–16 season. The club w ...

, whom he represented in the U15 Hero Junior League in 2017. He would then sign for the U15 team of the Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters FC, whom he represented in the 2019 Hero Junior League and the Subroto Cup, before signing to the reserve side of Kerala Blasters.

Kerala Blasters

Yoihenba signed his first senior contract for the

reserves team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

of the Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters FC. He was then included in the Blasters' reserve squad that played the

2020–21 Kerala Premier League The 2020–21 Kerala Premier League season was the eighth season of the Kerala Premier League. The season featured 12 teams which was divided into 2 groups and were played on a home-and-away format. The season was originally scheduled to start ...

. Under the new senior team gaffer Ivan Vukomanović, Yoihenba was one among the six reserve team players that was called up for 2021 pre-season camp of Kerala Blasters, and was then named in the Blasters' squad for the

2021 Durand Cup The 2021 Durand Cup is the 130th edition of Durand Cup, the oldest football tournament in Asia. Like its previous edition, the tournament was hosted in West Bengal, instead of its traditional venue, Delhi. The tournament is jointly hosted by t ...

by Vukomanović. He also represented the reserves in the

2021–22 Kerala Premier League The 2021–22 Kerala Premier League season was the ninth season of the Kerala Premier League. The season featured 24 teams and was played on multiple venues. This season Kerala Football Association decided to add 12 more participants into the l ...

season. During the 2023–24 season, Yoihenba was chosen in the Blasters' reserves' squad for the

2023 Reliance Foundation Development League The 2023 Reliance Foundation Development League is the second season of the Reliance Foundation Development League, the first developmental football league organised by Reliance Foundation in technical support with AIFF. The season features 59 ...

's national phase, and was again called up for the pre-season camp, and

2023 Durand Cup The 2023 Durand Cup (also known as IndianOil Durand Cup due to sponsorship ties with the Indian Oil Corporation) was the 132nd edition of Durand Cup, the oldest football tournament in Asia, and the second edition since it was supported by the A ...

squad. After making it to the senior' squad for the

2023–24 Indian Super League The 2023–24 Indian Super League is the 10th season of the Indian Super League (ISL) and the 28th season of top-tier in Indian football. Fixtures until December 2023 were announced on 7 September 2023. This season will have a mid-season break ...

season, his senior career debut would come against Mohun Bagan Super Giant on 27 December 2023, where he came in as a substitute for

Mohammed Azhar Mohammed Azhar (born 20 January 2003) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters. He is the twin brother of Mohammed Aimen. Club career Kerala Blasters Youth and early career ...

in the injury time of the second half and played just one minute, as the Blasters would win the match 0–1 at full-time.

International career

Yoihenba was called up for the India under-15 national team on 25 July 2019 for the preparatory friendlies in Thailand for the 2020 AFC U-16 Championship qualifiers, and played his first match against Bangkok Glass FC on 30 July 2019, which they won 4–2. He assisted for Sridarth Nongmeikapam goal against Assumption United FC on the final match of the preparatory friendlies on 9 August 2019, as India won the match by the score of 2–0. On 19 November 2020, Yoihenba was called up for the India under-16's training camp in Goa as a part of the preparation for the

2020 AFC U-16 Championship The 2020 AFC U-16 Championship would have been the 19th edition of the AFC U-16 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-16 national teams of Asia. ...

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

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Sukham Yoihenba Meitei
at Flashscore * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoihenba Meitei, Sukham 2004 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Indian men's footballers Footballers from Manipur Indian Super League players Kerala Blasters FC Reserves and Academy players Kerala Blasters FC players