End of Indian football's golden era as Sunil Chhetri announces retirement

Indias iconic football player Sunil Chhetri has decided to pull the curtains from his international career after the FIFA World Cup qualification match against Kuwait on June 6 The veterans longevity and consistency are remarkable in Indian football history Chhetri announced his retirement decision through his official social media handles by posting a videoMaking his debut in 2005 Chhetri scored 94 goals for India The veteran will leave the field as the top scorer and the most capped player for IndiaSunil Chhetri is third on the list of goal scorers among the active players behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi He is also fourth on the list of alltime international goalscorersChhetri 39 will walk into international sunset after rendering yeoman service for nearly two decades 19 years to be precise to a team that was heavily reliant on the 57 forward to deliver the goods every time he wore the blue jerseyAlso ReadIN PHOTOS IPL 2024 Most splendid centuries of the leagueThe match against Kuwait is the last Chhetri said while announcing his decision Chhetris final match will be played at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata and it is appropriate that he will end his journey in a city where he has played a lot of his football while evolving into a potent strikerIndia is currently second in Group A with four points behind leaders Qatar Chhetri had made his 150th national appearance in March and scored on the occasion against Afghanistan in Guwahati India though stunningly lost that game 12Having played his international debut game against archrivals Pakistan Sunil Chhetri rated it as his best momentThere is one day that I never forget and remember it quite often is the first time I played for my country man it was unbelievableBut the day before morning of the day Sukhi sir Sukhwinder Singh my first national team coach in the morning he came to me and hes like youre going to start I cant tell you how I was feeling man Chhetri recalledHe added I took my jersey I sprayed some perfume on it I have no idea why So that day everything that happened once he told me from breakfast to lunch and to the game and to my first goal in my debut to conceding late in the 80th minute that day is probably that I will never forget and is one of the best days of my national team journeyExpressing his thoughts about Indias future in football Chhetri said that its time for the country to find the next 9 He also mentioned that the current team is handicapped as none of the current players play as the main striker for their respective clubsYou know the feeling that I recollect in the last 19 years is a very nice combination between duty pressure and immense joy I never thought individually these are the many games that Ive played for the country this is what Ive done good or bad but now I did itThis last one and a half two months I did it and it was very strange I did it because probably I was going towards the decision that this game this next game is going to be my lastThe moment he had arrived at the decision memories came flooding back to his mind And the moment I told myself first that yes this is the game that is going to be my last is when I started recollecting everythingIt was so strange I started thinking about this game that game this coach that coach that team that member that ground that away match this good game that bad game all my individual performances everything came all the flashes came So when I did decide that this is it this is going to be my last gameFollowing the decision Sunil also opened up about his familys reactionI told my mom my dad and my wife my family first my dad washe was normal he was relieved happy everything but my mom and my wife started crying he saidthey couldnt express to me as to why they burst into tears Its not that I was feeling tired its not that I was feeling this or that when the instinct came that this should be my last game then I thought about it a lotAmong major successes Chhetri helped India win the Nehru Cup 2007 2009 2012 as well as the South Asian Football Federation SAFF Championship 2011 2015 2021 He also played a part in Indias 2008 AFC Challenge Cup win which helped them qualify for the first AFC Asian Cup 2011 in 27 yearsThe Secunderabadborn footballer who made his club debut for Mohun Bagan in 2002 went on to play for USAs Major League Soccer team Kansas City Wizards in 2010 as well as for the reserve team of the Sporting CP in the Portuguese football league back in 2012In his career he also represented Indian clubs such as East Bengal Dempo In Indian Super League he has played for Mumbai City FC and Bengaluru FCIn club football he has tasted most success at Bengaluru FC winning major trophies like the ILeague 2014 and 2016 ISL 2019 Super Cup 2018 He also led Bengaluru FC to the AFC Cup final in 2016 Chhetri was felicitated ahead of his 150th outing for the Blue Tigers in the World Cup qualifier against Afghanistan in GuwahatiWith PTI Inputs