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As every year, the All India Football Federation is set to recommend the names of Indian footballers for the national Arjuna Award.
This year as in 2017 and 2018, the AIFF is set to recommend the names of goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and striker Jeje Lalpekhlua for the Arjuna Awards. In the last couple of years they didn’t get selected though in 2017 long-time India Women’s national team captain Bembem Devi had won the Arjuna Award.
27 year old Chamkaur Sahib (Punjab) born Gurpreet Singh Sandhu started his football at the St Stephen’s Football Academy before joining the youth team of Kolkata giants East Bengal Club in 2009.
The next season, he joined the East Bengal senior team before spending the 2010/11 I-League season with the AIFF Developmental side Pailan Arrows. He returned to East Bengal and became their number one goalkeeper.
But he was released in the summer of 2014 and took a gamble to move to Norway to sign for top tier side Stabaek IF. Gurpreet made it in tough conditions before returning to India in 2017 to sign for Bengaluru FC and he has had a couple of very successful seasons with the Blues.
Meanwhile in the India national team he has cemented his place as India’s no.1 goalkeeper.
28 year old Hnahthial (Mizoram) born Jeje Lalpekhlua Fanai started his football with a local club before playing for the Mizoram Under-19 and catching the eye of then India U-19 coach Colm Toal.
Jeje joined the Pune FC Football Academy before making his senior debut for Pune FC. He spend five seasons with them with a loan spell at the AIFF Developmental side Pailan Arrows in-between.
Jeje joined Dempo SC in 2013 before moving to Mohun Bagan in 2014 to lift the I-League and Federation Cup titles with the Kolkata giants. He joined Chennaiyin FC for ISL-1 on loan and then over the next two seasons, he played for Chennaiyin FC in the ISL and Mohun Bagan in the I-League.
In 2017, Jeje continued with Chennaiyin FC for whom he won the ISL-2 and ISL-4 titles.
Since 2011, Jeje has been a regular with the Indian national team having already represented India in 56 international matches, scoring 23 goals.
