21 year old Sanlukhai fellow Lalromawia becomes the top goalscorer in 72nd Santosh Trophy.

by Spandan Paul March 23, 2018

On Thursday afternoon a 21 year old turned up the heat in the pitch of Rabindra Sarovar Stadium as the youngest son of a farmer, back in the Sanlukhai village of Mizoram became the highest goalscorer in the 72^nd Santosh Trophy final stage as he struck a beautiful brace to help his team humiliate Odisha 5-0 .

Moreover this is his second successive brace after he scored the final two goals in his team’s first win over the pre-tournament favourites Goa taking his tally to 4 goals in 2 matches in spite of not being a striker. We from FootballCounter found him to be a future national prospect and took a plunge into his journey from Sanlukhai to Kolkata and had a nice conversation with the Mizoram Coach Lalsangzuala after the match. Here’s a short excerpt:

The job is only half done : Mizoram Coach

We are now getting habituated with the tactical tweaks by the Mizo coach Lalsangzuala Hmar; especially in the second half where he always brings some tricks out from his magic hat. Last time it was about exploiting the gap between Goan centre back and left back while this time he changed the formation altogether in the second half from 4-3-3 to 4-2-4.

When enquired more about the reason behind this change Lalsangzuala said “ We sensed in the opening half that bringing more men into the attacking third might get us more goals. See, it’s always about the shape . Positioning of the ball and loosening of the ball – in this two major elements of the game shape  is the most important factor without which formation doesn’t help . So we went ahead taking a risk and managed to pull of well.

He cut across as a practical personality when he promptly reverted back on the thought of comfortable qualification to the semis- “The job is only half done. We have 4 matches in the group and we won only two till now. I won’t say we have qualified as we need to play out 2 more matches to do so” . Needless to say with a tactical genius like Lalsangzuala in the dugout Mizoram can surely hope of a semi-final berth sooner than later.

Lalromawia’s side of story:

Lalromawia should have been the happiest person in the national football circuit after he became the highest goalscorer in the final round of 72^nd Santosh Trophy in spite of not being a striker, but the modest 21 year old seemed thankful to his coach and his teammate for reaching a milestone which he didn’t know about until being asked .

“Football is a team game and I am thankful to my teammates because of whom I managed to score this many goals. Again without god’s blessing this couldn’t have been possible for me!”- Stated the central attacking midfielder who had his manager Hming Thansanga along with him to translate from his mother language.

The current Chanwari West FC central attacking midfielder who has 2 goals this season in Mizoram Premier League is the youngest among 3 siblings and is the only one in his family who is not into the cultivation of crops . “Football is the only reason I was forced to stay without my family .”

The 21 year old started training in Lung Leng a small district in near Aizawl where he grew up in the tiny village of Sanlukhai whose name couldn’t be found in maps; nor do much of the people know about it.

He debuted in the Mizoram Premier League last season and surprised all and sundry with his deft footwork and impeccable passing sense . Though he didn’t get his name on the scoresheet often, the young midfielder worked hard in silence which is bearing reap fruits now; as the youngster from the north-eastern part of the country seemed confident to help his team replicate the glory which they last achieved in 2013-14 season.