Tag: Sunil Chhetri

Football legend of India, Sunil Chhetri, unexpectedly came out of his international retirement and is set to return to the national team at age 40 after hanging up his boots last year.

The former captain, the fourth-highest men’s international goalscorer of all time, played his last match for India in June 2024 in a World Cup qualifier.

Sunil Chhetri said last year that “instinct” told him the match against Kuwait should be his last, and he bowed out in front of nearly 59,000 fans in Kolkata.

But on Thursday, India head coach Manolo Marquez announced the return of India’s most-capped player for the March international window.

India are out of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and are now targeting the Asian Cup in 2027.

“The qualification for the Asian Cup is very crucial for us. Given the importance of the tournament and the matches ahead, I discussed with Sunil Chhetri about making a comeback to strengthen the national team,” Marquez said in a statement from the All India Football Federation.

“He agreed, and so we have included him in the squad.”

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India will play a friendly against Maldives on March 19 in preparation for an Asian Cup qualifier against Bangladesh on March 25.

Football has struggled to find its feet among the 1.4 billion people of India, where the sport is dwarfed by the nation’s longstanding cricket obsession.

However, Sunil Chhetri is considered a sporting icon in cricket-mad India. The diminutive striker, who is 1.7 metres (5ft 7in) tall, made his debut against fierce rivals Pakistan in 2005 and scored India’s only goal.

Chhetri had two brief but unsuccessful spells in Portugal and the United States of America (USA) but has spent most of his career in India.

In 2009, he was offered a contract by London club Queens Park Rangers, in England’s second tier, but he could not get a work permit.

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India’s star player Sunil Chhetri on Thursday announced to retirement from international football after the FIFA World Cup qualifier match against Kuwait in Kolkata on June 6.

Indian captain announced his decision to hang his boots through an emotional video on his social media accounts.

“You know, the feeling that I recollect in the last 19 years is a very nice combination of duty, pressure and immense joy,” Chhetri said in the video.

“I never thought individually these are the many games that I played for the country. This is what I’ve done, good or bad. But now I did it. This last one and a half, two months I did it.

“I did it because probably I was going towards the decision that this game (against Kuwait), this next game is going to be my last. And the moment I told myself first that this is the game that’s going to be my last, was when I started recollecting everything. It was so strange.”

Sunil Chhetri has represented India in 150 matches since making his debut in 2005 against Pakistan, where he scored his first international goal.

He is the fourth all-time top goal-scorer in international football with 94 goals. Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list with 128 goals, followed by Iran’s Ali Daei (108) and Argentina’s Lionel Messi (106).

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Chhetri was a crucial part of the Indian national football team’s success, contributing to their victories in the Nehru Cup in 2007, 2009, and 2012, as well as the SAFF Championship in 2011, 2015, and 2021.

He also contributed to India’s triumphant 2008 AFC Challenge Cup campaign, a victory that secured their qualification for the AFC Asian Cup in 2011 after a 27-year absence from the prestigious tournament.

Additionally, he has been at the helm of the Indian men’s national team as captain since 2012.

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India’s footballer Sunil Chhetri came up with a shocking comparison as he claimed himself to be better than star footballers Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo when it comes to representing the national team.

Sunil Chhetri, who has been leading India’s national football team for over a decade is considered one of the most decorated footballers in India’s history. The striker is in the list of the top 10 highest goal scorers alongside Ronaldo and Messi.

The star Indian footballer denied any comparison of him with the rest of the leading goal scorers before claiming that he could be even better when it comes to representing the national team.

“There’s no comparison with the rest of the nine names on the list. I mean, I am a fan of players like Ronaldo and Messi, just like so many other fans of them. There’s just no comparison, and I don’t take this list, or whatever this list is, too seriously. But, yes, when it comes to representing the national team, I can be even better than them,” Chhetri said.

“Right now, international football is such that no one knows what will happen, and underdogs, too, can win! You just never know what is going to happen in football. That’s why we have to give our best, and that’s a message I am trying to send to the rest of the team,” he added.

Earlier this month, Sunil Chhetri led India to South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship title victory and finished the tournament as the leading goal-scorer and was also named the Player of the Tournament.

Speaking about the tournament, Sunil Chhetri gratefully acknowledged the support and encouragement that he and the rest of the Indian team had received.

“It has been great, the support, right from day 1 (of the tournament). On the pitch, the way fans were and encouraged us throughout the game was something special and something magical. Also, the fact that Kuwait and Lebanon — who were India’s opponents in the final and the semi-finals, respectively — are not exactly SAFF teams. They were invited, and they are really good quality sides. So beating them, competitions like them, also felt great.”

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