Does Phurba Lachenpa deserve a chance in Indian National Team

After an impressive ISL campaign, the 25-year-old goalkeeper seeks a spot in the Indian National Team.

Mumbai City FC’s ISL campaign came to a disappointing end against Bengaluru FC, as the League Shield winners lost out in penalties. The Islanders spurred the chance of becoming the first team to do the league double.

Although Mumbai tasted a harsh and bitter defeat, they can be very happy about their season. Mumbai were fantastic throughout the campaign. Despite being a free-scoring team with Jorge Pereyra Diaz, Lallianzuala Chhangte, and Bipin Singh being among the goals, the emergence of several defensive players was another huge positive for Des Buckingham's men.

While Vignesh and Mehtab showcased their potential, there was one player who impressed from start to finish and almost single-handedly kept Mumbai afloat in the semi-finals. This player is Mumbai City’s man in between the sticks, Phurba Lachenpa.

Lachenpa’s heroics this season

The 2022-23 ISL campaign proved to be a breakthrough season for Lachenpa, as he was trusted with the role of becoming Mumbai’s main goalkeeper ahead of Mohammed Nawaz, and it is fair to say that Lachenpa made the most out of this opportunity. The 25-year-old was resilient and prompt, and showed some extraordinary abilities, resulting in him getting better and better as the season progressed. 

Lachenpa was indeed one of the biggest reasons why the Islanders had such great success in the league. Some of his standout performances against teams like ATK Mohun Bagan, Kerala Blasters, and Bengaluru FC during the regular season played a major role in his team’s victory against these opponents.  The former Shillong Lajong keeper also kept seven clean sheets throughout the season and rescued his team in dire moments.

Lachenpa played every game of the season and hardly made any costly errors for his team. Also, against Bengaluru in the second leg of the semi-finals, Lachenpa was brilliant and put on one of the best goalkeeping performances of the season. He made eight saves and stood tall on one-on-one situations while also impressing with his long and short-range distribution.

These consistently poised performances, along with his fair share of individual heroics and Mumbai’s Shield win, easily render Lachenpa’s season a huge success and makes him one of the best goalkeepers of the 2022-23 Hero Indian Super League.

Can Lachenpa feature for the Blue Tigers in the near future

As mentioned, Lachenpa had a wonderful season with the Islanders and is currently a goalkeeper who is very high on confidence and is arguably in the form of his life.

All these factors, along with Amrinder Singh’s mediocre campaign with Odisha, might give Igor Stimac the perfect opportunity to give Lachenpa the chance to represent the Blue Tigers in the upcoming Hero Tri-nation football tournament, which is starting from the 22nd of March.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlC3x35pyiM

With the Indian squad set to be announced in the coming days, Lachenpa will have his fingers crossed and hope to get a deserved spot in the team and hopefully represent his nation.