Jerry Lalrinzuala (born 30 July 1998), is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Indian Super League club Odisha.
Early life
Born in Mizoram, Lalrinzuala started playing football from the age of five. His father – a police officer who played for army football teams – and his mother did not want him to get into football and wanted Lalrinzuala to go to college. "I took to the game when I was five. But my parents did not like me playing. They wanted me to study," said Lalrinzuala. He would attempt to attend football trials behind his parents back but was caught once by his father.
Club career
Lalrinzuala was a part of the AIFF Elite Academy and Bethlehem Vengthlang of the Mizoram Premier League before signing with Chennaiyin of the Indian Super League. He joined the AIFF Elite Academy in 2012. In early 2016, Lalrinzuala was one of five young footballers to be sponsored on their training stint with Metz in France.
Chennaiyin
After impressing Chennaiyin's first-team staff in pre-season, he was included in the squad for the season. He made his professional debut for the team on 2 October 2016 in their opening match against Atlético de Kolkata. He came on as a 73rd-minute substitute for Nallappan Mohanraj as Chennaiyin drew the match 2–2.
On 13 October 2016, in only his third appearance of his career, Lalrinzuala was awarded the "Emerging Player of the Match" award after Chennaiyin's 2–0 victory over Goa. Lalrinzuala then earned the first assist of his career on 23 October against Pune City. His long-ball to Jeje Lalpekhlua was lobbed into the net by the India international as Chennaiyin went on to draw the match 1–1. He was then awarded his second "Emerging Player of the Match" award in the next match against Kerala Blasters. Chennaiyin drew that match 0–0 as Lalrinzuala ended his first month as a professional playing six matches and starting four of them.
On 1 December 2016, after a rocky November, Lalrinzuala ended his first professional season with Chennaiyin by scoring his first professional goal from a free-kick in the 4th minute of their match against Goa. The goal gave Chennaiyin a 1–0 lead, which unfortunately ended with Chennaiyin losing 5–4. Despite the defeat, Lalrinzuala was still praised for his performance and also earned his fourth Emerging Player of the Match award for the season.
At the end of the season, Lalrinzuala was given plenty of praise for his performances with Chennaiyin. Chennaiyin assistant coach Syed Sabir Pasha stated "Jerry is a boy with natural talent. I know him from a very long time and knew about his quality. He impressed Marco from the very first day of training. He has a great left foot and is very comfortable on the ball. He has improved his defending but most importantly he is a humble boy with great character. Even when he makes mistakes, he is not scared to continue playing his game. This is a very important attribute to have. He has a very bright future."
The accolades continued to come in for Lalrinzuala as he was awarded the ISL Emerging Player of the Season award after the ISL final on 18 December.
DSK Shivajians (loan) On 20 December 2016, after his debut season with Chennaiyin, Lalrinzuala was loaned to DSK Shivajians for the I-League season. He made his debut for the side in their opening fixture of the season on 8 January 2017 against Mumbai at the Cooperage Ground. He came on as a 62nd-minute substitute for Saša Kolunija as DSK Shivajians fell 1–0.
At the end of the I-League season, after playing 18 matches for DSK Shivajians, Lalrinzuala earned the Best Emerging Player of I-League award. On 8 May 2017, Lalrinzuala made his Federation Cup debut for DSK Shivajians, starting in a 4–0 defeat against Mohun Bagan. DSK Shivajians soon exited the tournament at the group stage and thus Lalrinzuala's loan with the club ended.
2017–18 season
On 19 July 2017, it was announced that Lalrinzuala had been retained by Chennaiyin for the 2017–18 season as a capped under-21 player. He started during the team's first match of the season against Goa. He started at left-back for Chennaiyin as they were defeated 3–2. Despite the defeat, Lalrinzuala earned the ISL Emerging Player award for his performance against Goa. Lalrinzuala once again won the ISL Emerging Player award after Chennaiyin's very next match against NorthEast United.