Till today, India hasn’t been able to shake the stigma of being a cricket-obsessed country, despite being known as a significant market for football tourists. The long-serving Indian captain, Sunil Chhetri, stands out in this regard, though. Sunil Chhetri is an Indian footballer and captain of both the Indian Super League (ISL) Club Bengaluru and the Indian National Team. After Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, this forward-positioned player is the third-highest International goalscorer among all active footballers. Chhetri started his professional journey with the Mohun Bagan Club.
Here, in this article, we will talk about some amazing life-changing matches of the Indian Football team captain Sunil Chhetri.
India VS Kuwait:
On 5th July 2023, following a victory over Kuwait on penalties, the Indian football team captured its ninth South Asian Football Federation Championship (SAFF) crown. One man—Indian captain Sunil Chhetri—was at the epicenter of the victory. He has spent almost two decades working for Indian football, inspiring a generation of players. The 38-year-old goal-scoring machine led his country to unspectacular victory in the Intercontinental Cup and the SAFF Championship over the course of the last three weeks. The top two scorers, Cristiano Ronaldo (123 goals from 200 appearances) and Lionel Messi (103 from 175), both have more goals than he does, with 93 from 142 games. The Iranian superstar Ali Daei, who has 109 goals in 148 games, is ranked above Chhetri, who is fourth. In the early years of his career, he was a backbencher and prankster, but after becoming captain in 2011, he transformed into a youth idol.
After the retirement of the legend Bhaichung Bhutiya in the 2011 Asian Cup, coach Bob Houghton elevated Chhetri to captaincy to lead a young side in the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers in Malaysia two months later.
India VS Kyrgyzstan:
On 28th March 2023, India won Tri-Nation Friendlies. It’s finally the much waited goal here. For his 85th international goal, Sunil Chhetri steps up to the penalty spot. By squeezing it into the bottom left corner, the striker surprises the Kyrgyz custodian. For obtaining the penalty in the first place, Naorem Mahesh Singh deserves praise as well. India played the second and final match of the Hero Tri-Nation football-friendly tournament as they take on tough opponents in World No. 94 Kyrgyzstan at Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal on Tuesday.
India VS Nepal:
The Indian football team would face Nepal in a group-stage encounter at the SAFF Championship 2023 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium after a convincing victory against Pakistan on a rainy evening. To top the group standings, the Sunil Chhetri-led Indian team would want to continue its dominance over the national team of Nepal. Sunil Chhetri scored his 91st goal as India defeated Nepal 2-0.
India VS Pakistan:
In the South Asian Football Federation Championship (SAFF), this was the first football game between the two teams since 2018. On that day, five years prior, India had trounced the neighbors 3-1 in the SAFF tournament quarterfinal. Chhetri led India with a hat-trick of goals. Chhetri scored twice from the penalty spot, and for his first of the game, he capitalized on a slip-up by Pakistani custodian Saqib Hanif. On a night when they comfortably trounced their ferocious rivals, who had suffered numerous hardships just getting to Bengaluru for the competition, Udanta Singh scored India’s fourth goal. Many members of the Pakistani team arrived just hours before the game because their visas were delayed in arriving.
Also Read: How do football teams make use of home advantage?
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