Sunil Chhetri: Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri has come on the field today to play the last match of his career. Today the Indian team is clashing with Kuwait in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and Sunil Chhetri would like to end his career of nearly 20 years in a memorable way. Let us tell you that this match is the 151st match of Sunil Chhetri’s international football career.
Chhetri had announced his retirement a few weeks ago. He said that he will play the last match of his career against Kuwait. Sunil Chhetri is an important part of Indian football. He scored 94 goals in 150 matches for the country. He is currently fourth in the list of international goal scorers. Announcing his retirement, Chhetri recalled his journey and said that I still remember when I played my first match. My first match, my first goal, this was the most memorable moment of my journey. I never thought that I would be able to play so many matches for the country. He further said that when he decided to retire, he first told his parents and wife about this.
‘I’m trying really hard not to look at it as a retirement match’
On his farewell match today, Sunil Chhetri said, “I am trying very hard not to look at this match as my retirement match. This moment is not about me or my last match but we are talking about India and Kuwait. I am fighting this battle internally. Please do not increase my troubles by repeatedly asking me how I am feeling. I do not want to think in that way. We have to win this match at all costs. This target is not easy, but we are ready. We are getting very good support in Kolkata.”
Chhetri played his first match against Pakistan
Sunil Chhetri made his international debut on 12 June 2005. He played his first match against Pakistan. He also scored his first international goal in this match. Chhetri won the AIFF Player of the Year Award on six occasions in his illustrious career. Apart from this, he has been awarded the Arjuna Award in 2011 and Padma Shri in 2019.
This match is very important from India’s point of view
Let us tell you that the match against Kuwait is very important from India’s point of view because this victory will take the Indian team to the Final-18 stage. India has not been able to reach the Final-18 stage of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers till date. Currently, India is in second place in Group A after Qatar, which has already qualified for the next stage. Now if the Indian team defeats Kuwait, it will be almost impossible for Afghanistan, which is in third place, to qualify. Because there is a difference of 7 goals between India and Afghanistan, so if Afghanistan wants to qualify, it will have to win by a huge margin against a strong team like Qatar.
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