At full-time against Aston Villa, Manglenthang Kipgen spread his arms wide, looked up to the sky and thanked the heavens. His heavy breathing, a sigh and silence for a split second gave way to rousing applause from the coach and the backroom staff.
An Indian side – Punjab FC Academy – had beaten Premier League youth sides on foreign soil. Not once, but twice, in consecutive games, beating Everton 2-1 and Aston Villa 2-0, on August 4.
Kipgen was one of the stars in those victories, scoring in both games and finishing as the highest Indian goalscorer in the Premier League Next Generation Cup 2024.
“I cannot describe how happy we are. The competition (here) is so high and the players are very good. We’re also good but they are a bit on a different level,” he says, explaining how satisfying the wins were against stronger opponents.
“It’s all God’s plan. It’s all about experience and exposure. The level of the game is also very different and we have (had) a good experience. Let’s say that maybe next year or the year after that if we come again, we will try to play a better game,” he adds.
Kipgen is the latest prodigy to emerge from Manipur, which has been a fertile assembly line for notable Indian footballers, both men and women, over time, such as former India captains Gouramangi Singh and Ngangom Bala Devi.
“I started from a young age, around age six. Before I went to school or while at home, I played football barefoot every time,” he tells Sportstar.
“I’ve got a lot of support from my parents. They say they are proud of me, but it is me who is the proudest of them because they helped me a lot. When I don’t play well or have bad games, they encourage me a lot.”
Kipgen, who moved to Punjab FC at 15 after a brief stint at FC Madras Academy, has spent nearly a decade at the club, winning laurels across levels.
In the inaugural edition of the JSW U-18 Youth Cup in 2022, Kipgen struck in the 90th minute to win the final 2-1 against Reliance Development Young Champs.
READ | Punjab FC beats Aston Villa to extend historic run
With the under-21 side, he led the team to the 2024 Reliance Foundation Development League title win, beating East Bengal in the final, scoring twice in the tournament.
At the senior level, he played thrice in I-League 2022-23, as Punjab won the league to secure promotion to the Indian Super League.
Punjab FC players celebrate during the Premier League Next Generation 2024 tournament. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
And recently, he helped the club to a historic third-place finish in the Next Gen Cup, at Bodymoor Heath, Aston Villa’s training ground. It was the first time that a club from India finished over Premier League academy sides, in five editions of the tournament.
But his form and game-time have not been a bed of roses.
At the U-19 SAFF Championship last year, Kipgen started on the bench for India, playing a mere eight minutes in the first two games, against Bangladesh and Bhutan, respectively.
“I was not getting a chance in the starting XI. But my brothers and parents encouraged me a lot to not give up,” Kipgen, who is the youngest among seven brothers and one sister, says.
In the semifinal against Nepal, Kipgen started from the bench, again. But after the hour mark, he replaced Ishaan Sisodia in the midfield. As the match went into penalties, Kipgen, who had turned an adult just a few months ago, scored the winning penalty, in the shootout 3-2 victory.
The youngster was just getting into his stride. In the final, he embraced the moniker ‘super-sub’ with panache, scoring a brace in 21 minutes and beating Pakistan 2-1 to clinch the title.
“They said, ‘When your time comes, you have to give your best,’ and I did,” Kipgen smiles.
He looks up to Indian football legend Sunil Chhetri for motivation and intends to continue his goal-scoring form at the next iteration of the tournament, the SAFF U-20 Championships, starting in Kathmandu, Nepal, on August 18.
“I obviously look up to Chhetri bhai because he encouraged me a lot, and the picture of him playing at close to 40 years of age, keeps motivating me,” he says.
Defending champion India is drawn in Group B in the Championship, with Bhutan and Maldives, while the final is scheduled on August 28.
With international experience, both for club and country, the 19-year-old has his eyes set on only one target now: bring the trophy home at the same stadium where he wove his magic to beat Pakistan last year.
“I will try to give my best in my country,” Kipgen says.
In Chhetri’s first SAFF Championship triumph in 2011, he won the Player of the tournament. So did Kipgen, at the under-19 stage, last year. And Chhetri went onto win four more SAFF Championships and as many MVPs.
With another SAFF Championship ahead, this time an under-20 edition, Kipgen would aspire for something similar, or even more.
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