U. Jayakumar is the toast of Tamil Nadu at the moment. The 20-year-old striker, hailing from a little-known village called Melur near Minjur, has come of age at the ongoing national football championship in Odisha.

The robust footballer, after an outstanding season with Chennai Customs in the CFA senior division league, scored a brace against Mizoram on Monday to help Tamil Nadu come up trumps in a crucial Group D quarterfinal league match. Rallying from two goals down, Tamil Nadu eventually won the ill-tempered match 4-3.

Jayakumar made his CFA league debut — in the first division — only in 2008 and his climb to the state senior team has been swift.

But the youngster’s journey has not been without problems. Jayakumar was dealt with a severe blow when he lost his father four months ago.

But the irreparable loss only made him more determined to surge ahead on the football field. He did not disappoint and pumped in nine goals as Customs reclaimed the senior division title last month.

Life isn’t easy for Jayakumar. His family of four struggle to make ends meet. His mother works as a domestic help while his 17-year-old younger brother is employed as a welder. Jayakumar also has an elder sister. “My sister Tamilarasi is getting married on Wednesday.

It is sad that I won’t be present for her wedding, but my family understands that football is everything for me,” says Jayakumar. “I am sure winning the Santosh Trophy will be the best gift I can give her.”

Jayakumar got attracted to the beautiful game after watching Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho as a 10-year-old. He started kicking the ball around with his friends in a nearby playground.

Jayakumar’s first tryst with organised football came when former university-level player K. Venkat asked him to enrol for a coaching camp conducted on the same campus.

But it was under J. Elangovan’s watchful eyes at the Chennai FC (formerly Soccer Club) Jayakumar flourished. “Everything that I am now is because of Mr Elango’s guidance. I will do whatever he asks me to do.

He is my godfather. It was again Mr Elango who had told me to join Customs in 2011. I was mostly on the bench in my maiden season.

I scored in the one match I played against Indian Bank,” adds Jayakumar, who also praised Customs coach S.

Grand Duraipandian for his unstinting support.

Jayakumar is not lying when he says football is his life. Every day, he gets up at 3.30 am and reaches Minjur station after a 30-minute walk. He catches the 4.30 am train to Chennai.

This has been his routine for the last four years. The youngster is never late for training, which starts at 6 am every day.

“My ambition is to play for India. I know I have to prove here (the Santosh Trophy) to get noticed,” says Jayakumar, who also wishes to play in the I-League one day.

True to being a striker, Jayakumar wears his heart on his sleeve. After scoring the second goal against Mizoram, Jayakumar ran straight towards his opponents’ bench and started celebrating in animated fashion. TN coach Syed Sabir Pasha did well to intervene and asked his charge to mellow down.

“The fight which took place earlier brought the best out of us. Our team didn’t do anything wrong; the Mizoram players instigated us.

Anyway, now we are just concentrating on our next match against Railways. Even though a draw will take us to the semis, we will not enter the field with a negative mindset. We are here to win every game,” Jayakumar says.

“Jayakumar’s biggest advantage is his physical strength. He does not get intimidated by size and uses a lot of power in tackling. His ball sense is amazing, too.

Jayakumar has the knack of being in the right place at the right time — as he demonstrated in the Mizoram match. The striker is also blessed with pace.

He needs a bit of maturity to become a well-rounded player. But, his best days are ahead of him,” Sabir says.