Thongkhosiem Haokip : Football Player at FC Goa

Daniel Chabungbam *

Thongkhosiem Haokip : Football Player at FC Goa

Thongkhosiem Haokip - FC Goa

Thongkhosiem Haokip (born 13 March 1993) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Indian Super League club FC Goa on loan from Pune in the I-League.

Career

Early career

Born in the village of Gangpijang, Manipur, Haokip started his footballing career representing his state at the youth levels during the National School Games. He then joined local side United Sports Association and played for them before being discovered by professional football club, Pune.

In 2011 Haokip joined the Pune F.C. Academy and played for them in the I-League U20 and various other tournaments. While with the Pune Academy, Haokip was apart of the sides that won back-to-back I-League U20 titles in both 2012 and 2013. In April 2012, Haokip became the first academy player to score a hat-trick for Pune when he scored three goals against HAL during a group-stage victory.

Pune
2013–14 season

Before the start of the 2013–14 I-League season, it was announced that Haokip would be promoted to the Pune first-team. He made his professional debut 29 September 2013 appearing as a late-match substitute during a 0–0 draw against Shillong Lajong in the league. Then, in Pune's very next match, against Mohun Bagan, Haokip scored his first professional goal, scoring the opener for Pune in the 72nd minute as the club went on to win 2–0.

His goal made him only the second ever Pune FC Academy player to score for the senior-team after Nikhil Kadam. After scoring, Haokip gave credit to the Pune head coach, Mike Snoei, for motivating him: "The coach simply says; ‘play aggressively, be strong and be confident in what I do when out on the field. He also told me ‘don’t worry’. I am a learner."

Haokip scored his second goal for Pune in the return-fixture against Mohun Bagan on 21 December 2013. His 79th minute goal being the sole-Pune goal as his side lost 3–1.[8] Haokip then made his international club debut on 29 January 2014 in a qualifying match for the AFC Champions League against Vietnamese side Hanoi T&T. He came on as a 74th minute substitute for Arata Izumi as Pune lost the qualifier 3–0. Two weeks later, Haokip scored goals in back-to-back matches against Sporting Goa and Mohammedan.He then scored his final goal of the season on 8 April 2014 in an AFC Cup match against Nay Pyi Taw of Myanmar that ended 3–3.

2014–15 season

Haokip started the 2014–15 season by participating with Pune in the 2014 Durand Cup. Haokip found the net early this season, scoring in Pune's first match in the Durand Cup against former I-League side Churchill Brothers. His 65th minute strike helped Pune to a 3–0 opening victory. Then, during a match against Assam State Electricity Board in a Bhutan King's Cup pre-season tournament, Haokip scored a hat-trick as Pune booked their place into the semi-finals with a 5–0 victory.

Haokip was then part of the 20-member Pune squad that would participate in the 2014–15 Indian Federation Cup. Haokip only managed to find the net once during the Federation Cup, on 5 January 2015 against Bengaluru FC, as Pune were knocked-out early from the competition. After the Federation Cup, the club returned to I-League play and on 24 January 2015 Haokip scored his first goal of the I-League season, against the reigning champions Bengaluru FC. His goal helped further increase Pune's lead as they ran out 3–1 winners over the trophy holders.

Later, in the next match, Haokip managed to score the first hat-trick of the I-League season against Shillong Lajong. His first goal came in only the second minute of the match and his third came in the 15th minute, making the hat-trick take only 13 minutes to be complete.[18]

Haokip then continued his good form with a goal against Sporting Goa on 21 February 2015 and then another goal in the next match against Royal Wahingdoh. His goal against Royal Wahingdoh was the only one during the match and thus propelled Pune to the top of the I-League table.

FC Goa (loan)

In July 2015 Haokip was drafted to play for FC Goa in the 2015 Indian Super League.

International

In July 2014 it was announced that Haokip had been called-up to the India U23 30-man squad to participate in a preparatory camp for the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea. He made his official international debut for the India U23 side on 20 August 2014 during a friendly against Pakistan U23. He could not help the team as India U23 fell 2–0 to their rivals.

Despite his little display against Pakistan U23, Haokip managed to make it into the final squad for the Asian Games. Haokip did not make an appearance during the tournament, staying on the bench in both matches against the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

Haokip made his second appearance for Indian U23 debut against Uzbekistan U23 on 27 March 2015 in a 2016 AFC U-23 qualifier in the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Bangladesh.