Thongkhosiem 'Semboi' Haokip made the star turn as Bengaluru FC (BFC) took a huge step towards making the group stages of the AFC Cup, when they beat TC Sports of Maldives 3-2 in Male on Tuesday.
Semboi scored the opening goal with a glancing header early in the second half, and after a frenetic four-minute exchange saw the hosts pull the score back to 2-2, he got the winner with an effort from 20 yards out. This now means TC Sports will need to beat BFC by two goals outright next week to take their place in the AFC Cup.
Semboi only made his first appearance of the season for BFC on January 23 this year, when coach Albert Roca took a raw team to Bhutan for their away tie against Transport United in the previous playoff round. He came on as a substitute, and started a week later at home, scoring a goal and setting up another for his team-mate who shares his surname, Boithang Haokip, in a 3-0 win.
"Honestly, it is very difficult," he would confide after that game, when asked if it was frustrating for a striker in his prime to wait for his chance in a team like BFC. "But it's good that we [juniors] compete with such good players. I feel happy here. Inside and outside, we learn a lot from our seniors."
It is that willingness to work hard that must have attracted Roca's attention at the Indian Super League (ISL) draft last July. Semboi was just 22 when he had his breakthrough year in 2015, scoring freely for his erstwhile I-League club Pune FC, which included a winner against BFC and a hat-trick inside 15 minutes against Shillong Lajong.
Later that year, he would score an ISL hat trick for FC Goa against Mumbai City FC too, but opportunities were already drying up for him. It is the occupational hazard of strikers, particularly in Indian football, where coaches often go for the strength and power of foreign players over the skills and guile of Indians.
The two seasons that followed brought limited exposure with Salgaocar and East Bengal, and only a bit role in the ISL for the Kerala Blasters. Semboi might have feared if 2017-18 would go in a similar way, but to his credit, Roca has given him chances.
Roca gave him his first ISL start in the game against Goa, and to do that in place of top scorer Miku was a huge vote of confidence. Semboi came close to scoring on a couple of occasions and showed that he could raise his game against a competent opposition.
With BFC through to the playoffs, Semboi should stake a claim for more starts and he has the right coach in Roca, who has said often that squad rotations will continue and the only way to test young players is by putting them out in the middle in pressure situations.
On Tuesday night's evidence, Semboi is doing just fine in that examination.