Watch: Manipur Chief Minister, Ex-Footballer, Scores Goal For His Team

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh scored the first goal for his team in the opening football match of RK Jaichandra Singh Manipur Youth League. The 59-year-old was a career sportsman before he became a politician, and was part of the Border Security Force team that won the Durand Cup in 1981.

On Thursday, he picked up a football again to participate in a match between the Chief Minister's 11 and the Chief Secretary's 11, played at the Khuman Lampak Main Stadium in Imphal. N Biren Singh scored the first goal of the match - and shared a video of the feat on Twitter.

"I did it! Scored the 1st goal of the 1st match under floodlight between the Chief Minister's 11 and the Chief Secretary's 11 at the Khuman Lampak Main Stadium," he wrote while sharing the video which has been viewed more than 55,000 times on the microblogging platform.

I did it ! Scored the 1st goal of the 1st match under floodlight between the Chief Minister's 11 and the Chief Secretary's 11 at the Khuman Lampak Main Stadium. @PMOIndia @KirenRijiju pic.twitter.com/bCuiG90VyL

— N.Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) February 6, 2020

The video has earned the Chief Minister much praise. "Even Zidane would have been proud of this goal," wrote one person in the comments section. "Well done sir," said another.

The Indian Football Team also applauded the goal.

Bend it like @NBirenSingh! 💫#IndianFootball ⚽ https://t.co/swE4VAKm2O

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) February 6, 2020

As did Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju

Goal..... Well done Manipur Chief Minister @NBirenSingh ji..! What a shot⚽️ https://t.co/o4VAhWbgMo

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) February 6, 2020

Mr Singh followed the video up with another, writing: "Old habits die hard! Had a feel of the football just before the match."

Old habits die hard ! Had a feel of the football just before the the match between the CM's 11 and CS's 11 at the floodlighted Khuman Lampak stadium today. @PMOIndia @KirenRijiju pic.twitter.com/TLfG7ZgZPI

— N.Biren Singh (@NBirenSingh) February 6, 2020

Biren Singh was spotted by Border Security Force officials during a football match in Manipur at the age of 18. He joined the BSF team and was the first Manipuri footballer to play outside the state. He also played  for 10 years for the Manipur state team.