32-year-old Jeje Lalpekhlua announces his retirement
After a turbulent but fascinating career in football, Jeje Lalpekhlua, affectionately nicknamed as the "Mizo Sniper" in the Indian footballing fraternity, has made the decision to put up his boots. The Mizo daily Zonet's YouTube page live-streamed the 32-year-announcement old's of his retirement.
In 2009, Jeje started his professional football career with Pune FC, a former Indian football team. The Mizoram native moved around quite a bit, but his most productive period—and maybe the one with which most people are most familiar—was spent with Chennaiyin FC of the Indian Super League.
The striker scored 23 goals in 69 games while playing for the Marina Machans, helping them win the championships in 2015 and 2017–18. He scored the same number of goals with the national team as well, and he formed an exceptional striker duo with Sunil Chhetri.
However, a persistent knee ailment that kept reappearing like an unwanted visitor caused the footballer to end his career. But, even when he wasn't in the right condition to kick a ball about, Lalpekhlua never shied away from assisting others, especially those from his hometown.
Although blood units weren't easily accessible in his state during the early stages of the lockdown caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, Jeje was quick to donate blood. In addition to his propensity for helping others, he also had a strong interest in aiding in environmental preservation.
Jeje was seen in 2021 policing the Tuichang River in Mizoram to stop "overfishing," which had a negative impact on the ecosystem. He last played for East Bengal in the 2020–21 season, scoring his final goal during a 5–6 defeat against Odisha FC.