Lallianzuala Chhangte: Ten facts about India’s youngest goalscorer
Scoring two goals for the team last year when India beat Nepal in the SAFF Cup, this 18-year-old footballer Lallianzuala Chhangte created history by becoming the youngest ever goalscorer for India in an international football match
Here are ten facts about India's wonder kid:
1. Lallianzuala was born on the 6th of August, 1997 in Mizoram.
2. He broke Baichung Bhutia's record. Bhutia had scored against Uzbekistan in the 1995 Nehru Cup at the age of 19 and held the record of being the youngest Indian to score in an international match. Chhangte broke Bhutia's record on the 27th of December, 2015 when he scored against Nepal. At 18, he is now the youngest Indian to have scored in an international match.
3. He became the youngest Indian to play for the national senior team on the 25th of December when he came on as a substitute for Robin Singh during India's match against Sri Lanka in the SAFF Cup. India won the match 2-0.
4. A product of Liverpool's youth academy in India, he started his career with DSK Shivajians Liverpool International Football Academy which is based in Pune.
5. His talent was spotted by the youth coaches of the English Premier League club in the academy. He was chosen by them to play for the U-18 team of DSK Shivajians' debut season in the 2014-15 U-19 I-League season.
6. He was the top scorer of the U-19 I-League in the 2014-15 season. He scored 16 goals in all for DSK Shivajians.
7. He represented AIFF in the FAM-FRENZ Asia U-18 Champions trophy this year. They went to the semi-finals but lost to Japan's Kashima Antlers.
8. He scored 9 goals for DSK in the 2015–16 U-18 I-League, becoming the highest goalscorer in the League. DSK made it to the final round from the Maharashtra zone.
9. He got his call to represent the U-19 Indian national team in the 2016 AFC U-19 Championship qualification, appearing in three matches.
10. The Indian football team head coach Stephen Constantine's decision to give the 18-year-old a chance in the first team had come under some criticism. However, Constantine's faith in him has definitely paid off.
Source: Internet
Featured image(courtesy): IndiaZone(file)
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