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For a team blessed with some of the biggest names in Indian football, Mohun Bagan would be disappointed that the only substantial silverware since their 2015 I-League title has been the 2016 Federation Cup. And the man who delivered that trophy with his ability to score goals almost at will last year -- tournament top-scorer with eight goals -- Jeje Lalpekhlua will look to hit peak form as the current edition continues for Bagan. It will be a welcome return to form for Jeje, whose five goals in the recently concluded I-League were still the joint-third highest among all Indian players in the league, but saw him relegated to the bench often, making way for Balwant Singh alongside Darryl Duffy in the forward line. In early May, however, Jeje came off the bench in the Federation Cup opener against DSK Shivajians, shrugged off the I-League form, and left his mark scoring Mohun Bagan's last goal in a 4-0 win. Once again, it is as if 26-year-old Jeje's elevation from being the son of a Mizo footballer to a pivotal India striker was always meant to be. From Hnathial in Mizoram, his journey in Indian football began in his early teens, when he was inducted into India's erstwhile youth development head Colm Toal's camp in Goa spotted in a Mizoram under-19 tournament sponsored by a famous noodle brand. Vivek Nagul, former Pune FC Under-19 coach and later assistant to Marco Materazzi at Indian Super League (ISL) side Chennaiyin FC, remembers sighting him first at an India Under-16 camp a decade ago. "What impressed us immediately was that he could shield the ball so well and never lost it when he had possession. For his age, he was exceptional, especially on the turn. He was not the sharpest on his feet, but nobody could take the ball away from him. We were on the lookout for players for the Pune FC Under-19 team, and he was one of three players that we selected from there," recalls Nagul. Jeje would graduate quickly from the Under-19 setup to the senior team, especially when Pune FC won promotion to the I-League in 2009. His goal-poaching abilities would not go unnoticed -- on loan with the Pailan Arrows, a developmental India Under-23 team fielded in the I-League for three seasons, Jeje would score 13 goals in 15 appearances in 2010-11-- and found himself on a maiden India call-up for the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers in Malaysia in 2011. One of only four over-23 players in that India camp was Sunil Chhetri. "He was impressive even back then, and I thought to myself he'd make a great striker," Chhetri says of his first impression of Jeje at the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers, where Jeje scored four goals in his first three matches wearing the India blue, leading the attack more than adequately as India won their group comprising Turkmenistan, Pakistan and Chinese Taipei. "Jeje is one player who is gifted with his body, and he understands that and uses it well," says Chhetri of the man who has come to partner him regularly for India since. "In football, it is important that you have one such player, because a ball is bunted forward, sometimes as strategy and sometimes just as a clearance. If you have a player like Jeje, he will receive the ball by bringing it down, and then bring other players into play. It happens when he is playing for India with Eugeneson [Lyngdoh] and me, and when he's playing for Bagan, he brings in Sony Norde and Katsumi Yusa. He's become so much more confident, he wants the ball to come to him." That increase in confidence was evident when he joined Chennaiyin FC in the first season of the ISL, after a somewhat unproductive season with Dempo in the I-League. Nagul recounts an incident from the pre-season training in Bengaluru where foreign players in Chennaiyin first took notice of their teammate. "He was the only Indian player who players like Bernard Mendy and Mikael Silvestre found difficult to take the ball away from. They were able to dominate other Indians, but Jeje was too strong for them," says Nagul. "Mendy went for a shoulder-to-shoulder tackle and was sent sprawling a few yards away. Silvestre was always very good with aerial balls, as he would use his arms and body, but he couldn't do that with Jeje. He just raised his eyebrows and said, 'this boy is tough'!" Jeje remains the third-highest scorer in ISL history, and his 13 goals make him the most prolific Indian in the competition. That confidence has rubbed off in his performances for India, where he has 17 goals from 39 caps, including six in five of the last six games for India. Nagul, who describes Jeje as a "soft and deeply respectful" person, admires his work ethic. "When I saw him at Chennaiyin, he was communicating a lot more than before. He would be motivating other players, and playing a leader's role on the pitch. He would be asking questions and always wanting our (the management's) opinion on how he could improve. After practice, he would want to do more, sometimes do a few extra minutes of heading. I think he realised very early that he was the one to take over the attacking mantle once the likes of Bhaichung Bhutia and Sunil Chhetri move on," says Nagul. The goals keep coming, especially audacious ones like chips over Edel Bete of FC Pune City in the ISL last year, or a more recent lob over Lajong's Vishal Kaith that kept Mohun Bagan's league dreams alive. "This is down to confidence, and to who he's becoming every day," says Chhetri. "I think it's a great lesson for other young players -- you do things right, and you can always do more." Perhaps no coincidence then, that Jeje is the reigning player of the year for both All India Football Federation and the Football Players' Association of India, voted the country's best by peers and experts alike. "He's a great lad. He used to not talk much earlier. Maybe it was because he was a bit subdued or shy of the rest of us," says Chhetri. "But I think he knows that if I sit out, he's the next leader of the team. He's doing so well for himself and for the country. I am extremely proud of him."
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