Chhetri may be playing his last season: Igor Stimac

Talismanic striker Sunil Chhetri may be playing the last season of his illustrious career feels Indian football team head coach Igor Stimac who is hoping that his star player would be saving his best for the last in the coming monthsIndias next big assignment is the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar from January 12 to February 10 next year The 38yearold Chhetri is set to play in his third continental showpiece the most by an Indian after playing a pivotal role in the qualification tournament here last yearAt his age this will probably be his farewell from football Obviously Sunil may be playing his last season and definitely his last Asian Cup Stimac saidIm quite sure that the upcoming months will be the best for Sunil Chhetri he was quoted as saying in the official All India Football Federation AIFF websiteThe national team is currently having a fiveday camp here ahead of the TriNation Football Tournament in Imphal from March 22Chhetri the third most prolific international goal scorer among active players with 84 strikes behind Cristiano Ronaldo 118 and Lionel Messi 98 was part of the Indian teams that featured in the 2011 and 2019 Asian CupThe 38yearold Chhetri who made his international debut in 2005 played a key role in Bengaluru FC making to Indian Super League final to be played on SaturdaySunil Chhetri was nowhere to be seen this season He was on the bench waiting preparing himself working to take his weight down a few kilos which is very difficult to handle at this age said Stimac who has been given the target of reaching Asian Cup quarterfinals if he wants to continue at the helm beyond that tournamentBut when it was most needed he was there for his club helping them and taking them to the finals He scored the most decisive goalsWith 10 months to go for the Asian Cup the 106ranked Blue Tigers will play their first international match since September when they take on higher ranked Kyrgyz Republic 94 and Myanmar 159 in the international tournament in ImphalIndia drew 11 against Singapore and capped a 03 loss to Vietnam in their last international matchesAlong with Chhetri the Indian team has also ageing stars in centraldefender Sandesh Jhingan and goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Stimac is well aware of the likely change in the core group of players in the near futureWe need to understand that some of them are of a certain age now Its difficult to say but goodbyes need to come sometime the 1998 World Cup bronze medallist Croatian saidAlong with him Chhetri Sandesh Jhingan and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu are the core strength of our team Ive never hidden that I was never running away from the truthAlso readISL Bengaluru FC break Mumbai City FCs historic 18match unbeaten streakThey are free guys with great characters strong mindsets and a good mentality which is a basic platform for us to build the team around But of course we need to keep their age in mind Gurpreet and Sandesh may be there for four or five years he addedAsian Cup spots are available for everyoneFor someone who has always preferred to take his players from the toptier of the domestic structure Stimac said he would look at all the players involved in Indian football be it Santosh Trophy or the ILeagueThe competition for places in the final squad for the Asian Cup will go all the way until the end The spots are open for everyone with an Indian passport and not only those involved in the Hero ISLOur focus now is on all players involved in Indian Football whether it is the Santosh Trophy or the ILeagueOur scouting team will go everywhere in the next eightnine months to watch everyone Were going to give an opportunity to all those who we think might help us in the Asian Cup the coach addedAIFF President Kalyan Chaubey had recently said that all the competitions in the country including Santosh Trophy should be considered for national team selectionOn Indias opponents in the TriNation tournament the coach said both Kyrgyz Republic and Myanmar would be challengingMyanmar are the lowerranked one but they have changed their approach to the game in the last few years They try to play middlepress football which could be challenging Stimac saidKyrgyz Republic are a very wellorganised side and play very good quality football They played wonderful football against such a strong and competitive side Russia Its going to be very interestingWe are the hosts and were going to do absolutely everything to win the tournamentThe national team players in the ISL finalists sides ATK Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC will join the camp on March 19 The team will leave for Imphal on March 21Obviously its not going to be easy because weve got a lot of players who will be involved in the ISL final who will be physically and mentally exhaustedHalf of them will be in a worse position because they will be defeated in the final And my job is to regenerate them help them bounce back and find the strength and ability to play these two games and represent India in a 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