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Sunil Chhetri, born on 3rd of August 1984 in Secunderabad, India, had impressive football skills at a very early age. He is one of those players who has played a key role in bringing up the picture of football to the sports lovers of India. Let us have a short look at the striking journey of this astounding Indian football striker.
Early Life:
Sunil Chhetri | A striker who mildly struck all Indians’ hearts :
Sunil’s early life was not so relaxing, as his father was in the army so he had to keep moving places. He completed his schooling from Bahai School, Gangtok, Sikkim. From there his family shifted to Darjeeling, then to Kolkata where he spent his college life in Asutosh college. Chhetri’s father (KB Chhetri) also played football for the army. His mother (Sushila Chhetri) and sister (Bandana Chhetri) also played for Women’s national team of Nepal. On 4 December 2017, Chhetri got married to his longtime girlfriend Sonam Bhattacharya.
Career :
He started his career from the famous football club in Kolkata– Mohun Bagan (2002). He signed for JCT (Jagajit Cotton & Textile Football Club) in Santosh trophy. He reflected his skills by scoring two hat-tricks against Orissa for Delhi in group stages. He also scored 11 goals for JCT in 2006-2007 and raised his club to second place.
In Hero I-league 2007, he scored seven goals and JCT secured third place in the competition. He became the top goal scorer for India in Nehru Cup 2007, scoring four goals, which primarily helped India to win the Nehru Cup.
Also Read:
Sunil Chhetri becomes 4th highest active international goalscorer.
Chhetri’s Achievements:
- He won AIFF player of the year award in 2007,2011,2013 and 2014 for his excellent performance for club and India.
- In 2009 he won FPAI Indian player of the year award.
- In 2013 he scored 13 goals in SAFF and was also titled as “The Player Of The Tournament”. Evidently, with the help of Chhetri Bengaluru FC got to hold their first-ever I-league title. Jersey number 11 Sunil Chhetri has been the top scorer for the Indian team.
Although football is one of the most popular games in the world, unfortunately, India has not seen many great players in this game. Sunil Chhetri has certainly been quite successful in pulling Indians towards the spark and verve of football.
Sunil Chhetri had this statement in his Twitter bio, which clearly explains his emotions for the game: “My life revolves around shutting between taking the field for India and Bengaluru FC. Couldn’t have had it better”.
Intercontinental Cup 2018:
4th June, Mumbai, Sunil Chhetri was the center of attraction and played his 100th international match. Statistic says that Sunil Chhetri may overtake Lionel Messi on the goal-scoring list soon. Chhetri has goals per match ratio of about 0.61 which is better than Ronaldo (0.54) and Messi (0.52). Well, statistically or otherwise, whichever perspective you may keep, Sunil has undoubtedly been one finely skilled man on the fields of football and what makes him much more special is the amount of persistence he had while growing up as a footballer in a country where this game had never been the center of sports fraternity.
C'mon India… Let's fill in the stadiums and support our teams wherever and whenever they are playing. @chetrisunil11 @IndianFootball pic.twitter.com/xoHsTXEkYp
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) June 3, 2018
Please take notice of my good friend and Indian football skipper @chetrisunil11's post and please make an effort. pic.twitter.com/DpvW6yDq1n
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) June 2, 2018
He recently said :
I had a dream of course, but I never even imagined playing 100 international matches. This is unbelievable and I’m completely honoured by the fact that I will feature for my 100th game when we play against Kenya.
and continued…….
Honestly, I never think too much about milestones. I was having a chat with my mother the other night and she become a bit emotional. How big it was for her made me realiSe how great the occasion actually is.
