Jeje Lalpekhlua 2.0: Faster, fitter and smarter
FOR A player who had first emerged on the scene some six years ago – and has been with the national team for five – one wonders if Jeje Lalpekhlua would’ve felt a tad bit embarrassed on being named the ‘Emerging Player of the Year’ at the conclusion of last season’s Indian Super League.
But that, in essence, summed up Jeje’s career as well. He has been ‘emerging’ for quite some time, a player who has constantly looked to be work in progress. Injuries, loss of form and more injuries have pegged him back. That early promise and the endless potential, which even attracted interest from Scottish club Rangers, looked to be waning.
Sample this: after scoring for Mohun Bagan on debut in August 2014, he had to wait for eight months till he scored another for the Mariners. The excitement over the Mizo’s talent soon turned into cynicism over his commitment.
Cut to present day. It’s a breezy morning in Delhi and the 25-year-old has just returned from the national team’s training session a couple of days before they depart for Tehran for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup joint qualifier top-ranked Asian team Iran, which will be played on Thursday. The 25-year-old is still in his training gear and glowing in confidence.
The Jeje in front of us is a different avatar compared to the one we saw six months back. For one, he looks fitter; all the hours spent in the gym show in his bulging biceps and incredible calves. But more importantly, he has been doing all the right things on the field in the last few months, a run of form that began with the ISL last year.
The striker finished the ISL with six goals and three assists and forged a great partnership with Colombia’s Stiven Mendoza (now with Patrick Vieira-coached New York City). His reading of the game looked improved and positioning inside the box gave him more goal-scoring opportunities. He carried that fine form to the national team, where he scored three goals in India’s triumphant SAFF Cup campaign.
And while he struggled for goals and playing time during his first season at Bagan, Jeje has been at the heart of the I-League champions’ three-pronged attack along with Haiti’s Sony Norde and Trinidad’s Glenn Cornell. He has already scored thrice in the league in eight games (big step up compared to 1 goal in 12 matches all of last season) and been on target three times in as many matches in the AFC Cup to be the second-highest scorer in the continental championship.
Going by current form, it was hardly a surprise when India coach Stephen Constantine, on Wednesday, named him the captain of a young side for the match against Iran in the absence of Sunil Chhetri.
‘Hard work beats talent’
Jeje resorts to a phrase often used by Constantine to explain his scenario. “Coach always says hard work beats talent. I am a firm believer in that,” Jeje says, adding that his case is more about hard work than talent. Constantine agrees.
“There are some players who are naturally gifted. Then there are a few who really need to work hard. Jeje is willing to work hard. He is blessed with a good physique. He needed somebody to make him believe that he had the ability,” the Englishman says.
Jeje says he has spent considerable hours in the gym in the last few months to get his body in shape. Numerous injuries ever since he made his India U-19 debut have taken a toll on his body. The injury-ridden spell and the long goal-drought with Bagan filled him with doubts. He had worked on his fitness but the results on field were missing.
Then, ISL happened. Playing under World Cup-winning Italian Marco Materazzi and Brazil’s Elano helped Jeje analyse and improve his game. “It helps a lot. After training, I used to spend a extra time on the ground with Elano to understand various nuances of the game. All this proved helpful,” Jeje says.
At the national team set-up, Constantine worked tirelessly on his movements inside the box. “I owe him a lot. He has helped me regaining my confidence.”
As India enter a crucial phase in their quest to qualify for the 2019 Asian Cup, perhaps it will take a lot of hard work for a team with not much talent at its disposal to make the cut. For now, though, Jeje seems to be happy just being back among goals.
He finally seems to have come of age. He finally seems to have ’emerged.’
