Two footballers from the Northeast are making their presence felt at the on-going Hero International Cup at Mumbai Football Arena in Andheri area of the commercial capital of the country.
Jeje Lalpekhlua and Holicharan Narzary are playing significant roles in the wins of Indian national football team.
India registered a thumping 5-0 win against Chinese Taipei on Friday last week.
Though Indian captain Sunil Chhetri hogged the limelight scoring a hattrick, Mizoram’s Jeje who is playing in the national team as a forward played significant role.
Jeje Lalpekhlua’s strike in the 71st minute helped India blank the Kenyans and extend their lead at the top of the table in the Intercontinental Cup.
Later on Monday evening, India held Kenya 3-0 with one foot already in the final.
However, torrential rains led to a slow start to the match even as both the teams struggled for possession and timing.
Large puddles in the middle of the pitch and in front of the box kept on breaking the momentum of play on several occasions.
However, it was Kenya who started on the offensive.
The African country even had two close chances in the first half but failed to net the ball.
Indian defence and goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu managed to keep a clean sheet at halftime.
Kenya finally paid the price as Chhetri earned a penalty after being brought down in the 68th minute.
A powerful low-driven shot led the ball past the goalkeeper to give India the lead.
Moments later, Jeje latched on to a brilliant low cross by Holicharan Narzary to give India 2-0 lead.
India continued to keep possession of the ball and their dominance was established when Chhetri scored in the 91st minute.
India will take on New Zealand in their next fixture.
Notably, Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri who played his 100th international march on Monday achieved another milestone at the end of play.
Chhetri became the third highest goal scorer in international matches among players still playing the game, next only to football legends Ronaldo and Lionel Messi who hold the first and second position respectively.
