Sunil Chhetri’s century: A dream beyond his wildest dreams

Mumbai: India player Sunil Chhetri (Blue jersey no. 11) vie for the ball during the Hero Intercontinental football Cup in Mumbai on Friday, June 1, 2018. (PTI Photo / Mitesh Bhuvad)

India player Sunil Chhetri (Blue jersey no. 11) vie for the ball during the Hero Intercontinental football Cup in Mumbai on Friday, June 1, 2018. (PTI Photo / Mitesh Bhuvad)

 

MUMBAI: Sunil Chhetri remembers a certain photograph, taken on a June evening in 2005. During breakfast in the morning, the national coach Sukhwinder Singh had announced that the then 20-year-old will be making his senior India debut later that day. Against Pakistan, at the Ayub Football Stadium in Quetta, Pakistan, Chhetri lined-up with the Indian national team for the first time. And a few minutes into the match he opened the scoring.

“I was so happy that I forgot we were playing in Pakistan because I went near the stands and started celebrating in front of the Pakistani fans,” he recalls. “There’s a very sad photograph where I’m doing this in front of the fans, and nobody on the team followed me.”

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Credit: indianexpress.com