Excited to be back after knee surgery, elates Jeje Lalpekhlua
Indian footballer Jeje Lalpekhlua has been missing from action for club and country due to a knee injury but the Chennaiyin FC striker is raring to go again after recuperating from surgery. Jeje has been impressed with the Indian team under Igor Stimac and hopes to return to national duty soon.
Indian footballer Jeje Lalpekhlua has been missing from action for club and country for some time now due to a knee injury. But Chennaiyin FC’s most-capped player is now ready to strike and raring to go again after recuperating from surgery on a knee which has been troubling him for a while now.
“In the last three or four years, I have played with so many problems with my knee, but I have given everything for my team. Now, after my surgery, I am excited to be back. I am excited to see my teammates and I want to play soon in front of our fans,” the 28-year-old said to the ISL media.
Jeje has proved himself to be one of the most prolific goalscorers in Indian footbal and feels his only target now is to prove his worth to himself by coming to back string from his surgery.
Earning 56 caps and scoring 23 goals for the country in a career spanning eight years, Jeje played his last his international match against Bahrain in April. He is impressed with the team’s recent show and is hoping to wear the national colours soon under new coach Igor Stimac.
“I miss wearing the national blues a lot. Watching the games on television motivates me to come back. I can't explain how eager I am to be back playing for the nation. The players have adapted well to his [Igor Stimac] methods. They have played good football and I hope they do well for the rest of the World Cup 2022 qualifying campaign. The style of playing is really good. Against Qatar, they did particularly well. It was one of the best performances of the national team in recent times. I hope we can continue,” said Jeje, who is first focusing on performing well in the upcoming ISL season.
Jeje, who has been seen as a natural successor to Sunil Chhetri due to his presence in Indian football spanning a long time and his goalscoring prowess, was all praise for the Indian skipper and admits the hard work that will go in to fill his position once he retires.
“He is a very important player for the national team. He is our pillar. Right now, he is doing well and I hope to see him for ten more years! But, when the day comes, we are going to miss him. Right now, there are bright youngsters coming up and they have been doing well. One has to work extremely hard to fill his position, it is very difficult. I can't imagine him retiring now. If he leaves, we can't do anything. We need to take up the challenge. But what he has done right now, it is difficult to match. He is everything for us.”
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