Eugeneson Lyngdoh: From engineering dropout to a crorepati

PUNE: From an aspiring engineer to an engineer of moves on a football field, Eugeneson Lyngdoh is an owner of a fascinating journey of twists and turns. Lyngdoh came to the city in 2005 in pursuit of his BE degree at Maharashtra Academy of Engineering (MAE). His college was near Alandi. But his football devotion proved stronger.
Today, the 28-year old Bengaluru FC player considers himself fortunate to be picked up by FC Pune City for a fabulous sum of Rs 1.05 crore in the Indian Super League draft.And add to it the icing on the cake he was adjudged Best Indian Player of the I-League by the FPAI (Footballer Players' Association of India) on Sunday.
The midfielder, who hails from Shillong, hopes that his journey will help parents to look at football as a profession and will draw necessary encouragement in future. "In India, parents normally don't allow their children to take up football as a career. But my ISL contract should be an eye-opener. Parents letting their kids play will unearth more talent. I hope my example will benefit other aspiring players in the country."
Lyngdoh had a couple of things going for him: His father SK Sunn is a president of Rangdajied United (northeast) and despite his team getting relegated to the I-League second division, he was picked by India's most professional club Bengaluru FC in 2014.
The atmosphere for football was not so rosy when Lyngdoh came to Pune in search of academic qualification. In the third year of his engineering course, he realized that football had a special place in his heart.
"I represented the college football team, then Pune district team and then Pune University .I was more involved playing football than engineering. I was playing every tournament there was. I also played for local team Thundercatz for a while.
"When I got a backlog in studies I had to stay home and that's when I got a chance to play for Rangdajied United. Then Shillong Lajong kept calling and I joined them and that's how it just went on," said Lyngdoh who has been playing in the I-League for four years now.
He rued the lack of proper channels in the country to guide young and upcoming footballers. "I was never in an academy. I always wanted to play football but I never had the right path to go about it. I had to do my engineering then quit it midway to end up playing football. Had I started played football at a younger age and given proper coaching, who knows what I would have been by now. There has to be a proper academy to become a footballer."
The engineering drop-out made his debut for India in March this year against Nepal.