Indian football’s ‘Captain Fantastic’ Sunil Chhetri will retire after the Kuwait tie on June 6
Sunil Chhetri, India’s greatest ever player, had made public his retirement plans — the FIFA football World Cup qualification game against Kuwait on June 6 in Kolkata. That’s when we got head coach Igor Stimac on the call. “Sunil had mentioned this to me two months earlier.
He had asked me to not say a word. I did not”, he said. So how does he react to it? “We need to make it memorable. Players like him don’t come too often”, said Stimac.
Words that resonate with every Indian sports fan. Chhetri deserves it all and now the Kuwait game is much more than just a football match. It is also about giving a fitting farewell to the best India has seen and in doing so, making it memorable for him and his legion of fans. So how will we remember Sunil Chhetri? What’s his real legacy? And how does the team now get ready for the all-important Kuwait game?
Sunil had once said it beautifully, “We are extremely fortunate to have so many people backing us wherever we play. Each time we have played we have seen Indians coming out in support. It makes you feel privileged. And that’s why I can promise all our fans that when it comes to effort, we will give it everything. Results may not have gone our way but the effort was never lacking.” That’s what defines him. The effort. The never say die attitude and the zeal to not give up.
“The SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) level isn’t the standard we aspire for anymore. You need to have a better mirror to judge yourself. Now, when you play against teams like Kuwait, you will know
