All posts tagged: Sunil Chhetri career

As India’s goal-scoring phenom Sunil Chhetri retires, the question is who will be the next No.9? | Football News

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“It’s time our country got to see its next No. 9.” For years now, the Indian national football team has hoped that the next iteration of the striker who could lead the country, would somehow manifest himself and provide an answer to what life could look like after Sunil Chhetri.Now that the day of reckoning is June 6, even Chhetri himself couldn’t avoid the topic in his retirement video. The ever-gnawing, but ever-sidelined worry of ‘who next after Chhetri’. That the country has had to rely on the 39-year-old is an understatement. It is how much it has relied on Chhetri that paints a picture of what lies ahead. Look across some of India’s most important wins and draws over the last 19 years and the picture of Chhetri’s deep-rooted involvement in the goalscoring of the national team, starts to emerge. India has qualified for the AFC Asian Cup five times in their history. Three out of those five times have been with him at the centre of it all. Qualification for the 2011 Asian …

Sunil Chhetri retires: Five things Indian footballer did to cement his legacy | Football News

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Sunil Chhetri announces retirement: Football legend Sunil Chhetri called time on his Indian football team career in an emotional video he posted on his social media handles on Thursday morning. Sunil Chhetri will retire with his legacy secured as a man who made history in multiple ways, He has been the face of Indian football for many years. Not just in terms of numbers, he was often been an elder brother to younger players in India, who would put an arm around their shoulders and guide them along. Here’s a list of the ways in which his career will be remembered (this is by no means a definitive list): Sunil Chhetri’s numbers for Indian football team Sunil Chhetri has scored 94 goals for the country, which makes him India’s all-time top scorer. Chhetri is also third in the list of goal scorers among active players (behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi). Sunil Chhetri is currently fourth in the all-time list of international goal-scorers. Sunil Chhetri is also the most-capped player for the Indian football team, …

Sunil Chhetri announces Indian team retirement: ‘My wife started crying… I feel sad sometimes everyday’ | Football News

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Sunil Chhetri has called time on his football career for the Indian national team. The Indian football legend said that the match against Kuwait will be his last game in the national colours. Sunil Chhetri made the announcement in a video he posted on his social media handles. Sunil Chhetri said that the game against Kuwait — which is part of the second round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers — will be his last game. The match will be played at the Salt Lake Stadium on June 6. India are currently second in Group A with four points, behind Qatar. “When I did decide that this is going to be my last game, I told my family about it. Dad was normal. He was relieved, happy, everything. It was my wife, strangely. I told her. ‘You always used to bug me that there are too many games, there’s too much of pressure. Now I am telling you that I’m not going to play for my country anymore after this game.’ Even they couldn’t tell …