By Soumo Ghosh,
AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: Hailing from the small town of Lunglei, Mizoram, Lalbiakhlua Jongte has been a consistent fixture as one of the goalkeepers in the India national team for the AFC U16 Championships, which is set to be played in Malaysia, later this month.

Although he has been playing the beautiful game for some time, Jongte actually got his first pair of football boots just five years back, when his grandmother recognised his immense talent, and decided to give him a little gift.

“I was 11 when I got my first pair of boots. My grandma bought the boots by herself and gifted them to me. I was very happy to get those boots,” said Jongte. “Of course, I do not have these boots anymore, but that was a very emotional moment for me.”

Despite being a teenager, Jongte has already has had a couple of standout moments in his football career. The single most event that brought the most amount of joy to this young goalkeeper came two years back, when he received his first national team jersey, two years back.

Other than this, another moment stands out in Jongte’s young memory, one that took place last year. The Blue Colts, in Nepal, managed to pip the hosts and Palestine to seal a qualifying spot for the AFC U16 Championship.

Interestingly, after India played out a 0-0 draw against top seeds Iraq, the Blue Colts needed a favour from Palestine, in order to make it through. And the Palestinians obliged soon after, beating hosts Nepal 2-1 in the last group game.

“I was one of the players who gave the Palestinians a reception after the game,” said Jongte. “We just went crazy when Palestine scored the second goal. “All the Indians were supporting Palestine in that match. After the game, we all went up to them and thanked them for the result,” he further said.

However, the qualifiers are now a thing of the past, and this Manuel Neuer fan, whose uncles and grandfather played for local clubs in Mizoram, is looking for nothing other than “creating history” in Malaysia.