Sunil Chhetri - players.bio

AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers: Focus On Sunil Chhetri As India Take On Afghanistan

Indian men's football team face Afghanistan in their second match of the third round of AFC Asian Cup qualifiers on Saturday at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata. The Blue Tigers who beat Cambodia in their first match on Wednesday, thanks to captain Sunil Chhetri's brace, could take a giant step towards confirming their presence in next year's AFC Asian Cup finals with a victory on Saturday. India head coach Igor Stimac sounded confident ahead of the match against Afghanistan but also showed plenty of respect to their opponent as he addressed their physical attributes during the pre-match press conference on Friday.

"Need To Start Learning To Play Without" Sunil Chhetri: India Coach Igor Stimac After Star Striker's Brace In Asian Cup Qualifiers

Indian football team head coach Igor Stimac wants his attacking players to start learning to play without talisman Sunil Chhetri, and score some goals too. At 37, Chhetri is at the fag end of his career, but India still needed him to score the two goals and start their Asian Cup Qualifiers campaign with a win over Cambodia in Kolkata on Wednesday. Stimac said it's high time that players such as Udanta Singh, Manvir Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan, Sahal Abdul Samad and Liston Colaco start scoring. "It's again Sunil. Others tried to get it but not finding a way. So I expect goals from Liston, Manvir, Udanta, Aashique, Sahal. They all need to start scoring. We need to start learning... The boys need to start learning to play without Sunil -- simple as that," Stimac said after the match.

Boys need to start learning to play without Sunil Chhetri: Igor Stimac

Stimac wants his attacking players to start learning to play without talisman Sunil Chhetri, and score some goals too. At 37, Chhetri is at the fag end of his career, but India still needed him to score the two goals and start their Asian Cup Qualifiers campaign with a win over Cambodia here on Wednesday. Stimac said it's high time that players such as Udanta Singh, Manvir Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan, Sahal Abdul Samad and Liston Colaco start scoring.

Sunil Chhetri Brace Sinks Cambodia as India Begin Asian Cup Qualifiers With Win

Sunil Chhetri was once again the man of the moment as he struck a brace to inspire India to a 2-0 win over Cambodia in their opening match of the Asian Cup qualifying final round match at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Wednesday. The Igor Stimac's side were far from their best and failed to make use of their better possession against a weak side but the 37-year-old returned Chhetri from an injury layoff to score on either side of the break (13th and 59th minute). The double strike brought him back to the third place in the list of highest scorers among active footballers in the world. With 82 goals from 127 matches, Chhetri now sits behind Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (117) and Argentine virtuoso Lionel Messi (86).

Asian Cup Qualifiers: Sunil Chhetri-led India Ready For 171st Ranked Cambodia

Skipper Sunil Chhetri will get a chance to bolster his tally of 80 international goals as the Indian team gears up to steamroll 171st ranked Cambodia on Wednesday in its bid to make a fifth appearance in AFC Cup tournament proper. Cristiano Ronaldo (117 goals from 188 games), Lionel Messi (86 from 162 games) have been on a scoring spree and no wonder at his level, the Indian talisman would like to ride the roughshod over Cambodia, Afghanistan (150th) and Hong Kong (147th). While no one is comparing the international levels at which they operate, briefly surpassing Lionel Messi won't be a bad feeling for the 37-year-old.

Always want to see India playing at Asian Cup, says 'fan' Sunil Chhetri

Asian Cup in front of the passionate fans at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata, which he described as the best in India, Indian national team captain Sunil Chhetri is gearing up to take on Cambodia in their first Group D match of 2023 AFC Asian Cup third-round qualifiers on Wednesday, followed by matches against Afghanistan and Hong Kong. The Blue Tigers play on home soil for the first time in almost three years. Incidentally, the last time they played at home it was in Kolkata in October 2019.

"Right Now, I'm Enjoying It": Ace Footballer Sunil Chhetri Responds To Questions On Retirement

Talismanic striker Sunil Chhetri on Friday dropped yet another hint that his retirement is not far away, saying a FIFA ban on India in the aftermath of Supreme Court's ruling to oust Praful Patel as AIFF president would be catastrophic as he is playing his "last games". The 37-year-old Chhetri's retirement has been a matter of speculation for some time now and he has said on many occasions that his illustrious career will come to an end soon.

Sunil Chhetri's Return In Vain As India Lose To Jordon In International Friendly

India suffered a 0-2 defeat to Jordan in an international football friendly on Saturday, as the return of talisman Sunil Chhetri not proving to be enough for the Blue Tigers. The 91st-ranked West Asian side left it late as Monther Abu Amara (75th minute) and Abu Zraiq (90+4) found the net while India, placed at 106th in the FIFA rankings, barely managed a shot on target at the Qatar Sports Club.

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Sunil Chhetri Sport News

AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers: Focus On Sunil Chhetri As India Take On Afghanistan

"Need To Start Learning To Play Without" Sunil Chhetri: India Coach Igor Stimac After Star Striker's Brace In Asian Cup Qualifiers

Boys need to start learning to play without Sunil Chhetri: Igor Stimac

Sunil Chhetri Brace Sinks Cambodia as India Begin Asian Cup Qualifiers With Win

Asian Cup Qualifiers: Sunil Chhetri-led India Ready For 171st Ranked Cambodia

Always want to see India playing at Asian Cup, says 'fan' Sunil Chhetri

"Right Now, I'm Enjoying It": Ace Footballer Sunil Chhetri Responds To Questions On Retirement

Sunil Chhetri's Return In Vain As India Lose To Jordon In International Friendly