Sunil Chhetri is the third active player in the list of international goal scorers, after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
On Thursday, Sunil Chhetri, a true legend of Indian football, announced his retirement from the national team. This decision marks the end of an era, with his final game in the national colours set against Kuwait.
Sunil Chhetri announced the news in a video on his social media handles. He said the game against Kuwait, part of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, would be his last. The match is scheduled to be played at the Salt Lake Stadium on June 6. India is currently second in Group A with four points, behind Qatar.
“When I decided this would 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 pressure. Now I am telling you I won’t play for my country anymore after this game.’ Even they couldn’t tell me why there were tears. It’s not that I was feeling tired, not that I was feeling this or that. When the instinct came that this should be my last game, I thought about it a lot. Eventually, I came to this decision,” he said.
“Will I be sad after this?
Of course!
Do I feel sorry sometimes every day because of this?
Yes!” Sunil Chhetri added in the video. “Do I feel like I’ll miss the train, and there’s just 20 days of training? Yes. It took time because the kid inside me never wants to stop being given a chance to play for his country,” said Chhetri.
“I have practically lived the dream. Nothing comes close to playing for the country. So the kid kept fighting. But the mature inside knew that this was it. It wasn’t easy,” Sunil Chhetri said.
“Every training I do with the national team, I’m just going to enjoy it. I don’t feel that pressure. The game demands pressure. Against Kuwait, we need the three points to qualify for the third round. But strangely, I don’t feel the pressure,” he added.
Sunil Chhetri retirement: ‘Happy Retirement Legend’ trends
The announcement of Chhetri’s retirement has caused an outpouring of emotion on social media. Fans have flooded platforms with gratitude, thanking him for his contributions to the country. “#HappyRetirementLegend” captures the collective sentiment of a nation proud of its football legend.
Virat Kohli, the Indian cricket icon and his friend, also commented on Chhetri’s Instagram video, expressing his pride in his brother. He stated, “My Brother, PROUD.”
