It was amazing to score a brace on my birthday: Jeje

But the front man appears to be rueing the defensive mistake the side made towards the dying stages of the game even now. CFC took only a solitary point from the contest courtesy a late goal from Dutchman Guyon Fernandez. “I am still not able to digest the result. We deserved to win, but in football these things happen,” he added. 

The Mizoram-born lad gave us an insight into what the famous ‘Sniper’ celebration meant and how it sprung up. “It signifies that my shot is point. During one of the games in Season 2, I told Abhishek Das that if I score a goal, we will celebrate it together. That is how it originated,” revealed the highest Indian goalscorer in the Indian Super League.

Jeje has been an integral part of the Chennaiyin setup since its inception in 2014. In one of the press conferences ahead of this edition, the centre forward had termed it the “best” CFC unit he has ever been part of. Commenting on what made him voice out such words, the 27-year-old said, “The squad is very strong this time around. We have got good backups for all positions. For instance, when Rafa (Raphael Augusto) was injured, he was replaced by a quality player in Rene (Mihelic). Same applies for the defence too.” 

When queried about his new role under head coach John Gregory, he added, “John has asked me to press the defenders for every ball they have. My work rate has doubled as I am played as the lone striker. I am running a lot more than I used to under Marco.” 

The SAFF Cup winner was pleased with the new directive of fielding more Indian players in the playing XI. The move has opened up avenues for managers to field young and exuberant talents regularly. “Indian football is moving in the right direction. The move has helped the players a lot. It acts as a catalyst in improving us in the international arena as well. Other Asian teams are now starting to recognise the strides we have made in the past few years,” he remarked. 

The Indian international has either been on a scoring spree or gone through a drought over a period of time. Speaking on form this season, he asserted, “It is not easy to score a goal every game. Even top players like Ronaldo and Messi fail to do it (laughs). I want to score as much as I can in the upcoming games and help the side win the championship.”