Lallianzuala Chhangte

Lallianzuala 'Zuala' Chhangte is a professional Indian footballer who plays as a winger for the ISL outfit Delhi Dynamos. Hailing from a village that is obsessed with football, Chhangte grew up chasing a ball with his feet all the time and studiously watching Sunil Chhetri Sunil Chhetri is an Indian professional footballer >> Read More... , Subrata Pal, and Jeje Lalpekhlua Jeje Lalpekhlua, full name Jeje Lalpekhlua Fanai, >> Read More... . His parents weren't initially supportive of his interest in football and urged him to focus on his studies, but it didn't dampen his love for the sport.

The young attacker used to skip classes to play the game, and when a field wasn't available, he and his four brothers used to make do with a ball of rolled-up socks at home. Following his passion often led to him getting into trouble with his parents and school authorities.

While he was still in school, he joined local clubs to continue to hone his skills. At the age of 15, he confessed to his mother about his dreams of becoming a professional footballer at once, and though his mother was against at first, she eventually relented and urged him to complete his studies firstly. In 2014, Liverpool youth coaches selected him to be part of DSK Shivjians-Liverpool International Football Academy partnership's U-18 squad for their I-League U-19 debut.

At the season’s conclusion, Zuala was the top goal scorer with 16 goals in his belt and played a pivotal role in the team finishing in the 7th position. In 2015, he was called up to represent AIFF in the FAM-FRENZ Asia U-18 Championship trophy where the squad reached the semi-finals before having to exit. After which, he was soon roped in for the Indian roster for 2015 SAFF Championship that the team won.

His debut match in the tournament was against Srilanka as a 77th-minute substitute for Robin Singh Bio coming soon... >> Read More... . In his next fixture, two days later, he scored two goals within 10 minutes to the end of the game, making him 2nd youngest goal scorer for the National team.

For 2015-16 I-League U-18 season, DSK Shivajians retained him. That season, he scored 11 goals and helped the team reach the final round of playoffs. In 2016, Zuala and his teammate Jerry Mawihmingthanga were part of a fortnight-long training stint with Liverpool's academy in Kirkby, England. He thoroughly enjoyed his time at Kirkby and still cherishes the experience for he not only got to meet the likes of James Milner and Philippe Coutinho but was also able to train with players technically and physically stronger than him.

Soon after he returned to India, he joined NorthEast United FC for the 2016-17 ISL season as a loan and had a disappointing year as he appeared in only one game, featuring for just 16 minutes. After his loan period was over, Zuala returned to DSK and played for the Pune-based team in the I-League, appearing in 17 matches and scoring one goal.

In 2017, Delhi Dynamos signed him for the 4th season of ISL. Though he and the team started with a 3-2 win over Pune City FC, where he scored a goal and assisted another, both of them faced eight consecutive losses before getting the winning strike back against Bangalore FC, where he scored one goal.

In spite of facing hurdles, the talented attacker remains optimistic about the upcoming ISL season in September end and is focusing on performing good enough to catch Stephan Constantine's eyes.