"It Has Been Difficult": Sunil Chhetri's Honest Take On India's Asian Games 2023 Journey

Captain Sunil Chhetri played every minute of India's three Asian Games matches so far, scoring two of the team's three goals to lead the country to the round of 16 but having become a father recently, he is also missing his son. The 39-year-old Chhetri and his wife Sonam were last month blessed with a baby boy but he had to leave them behind and attend to national duty. "There is an age difference with other boys. Some of them are really young, we give them space. I and Sandesh are a bit aloof from them. We have young kids at home. I am missing my son and he (Jhingan) is desperately missing his daughter," Chhetri said when asked how he spends time with the team members.

India drew with Myanmar in their last Group A match and qualified for the knockout stage as the runners-up side, finishing ahead of their eastern neighbours on the same four points but with better goal difference (of 6 to 5).

The rag-tag team, assembled just two days before its departure for China, exceeded expectations by reaching the round of 16. The team did not have any training session together prior to the Games as the players and the support staff reached here just hours before the first group match.

The team strategy was discussed inside the aircraft and at the transit airport.

"It has been difficult, we are playing three games in five days. The good thing is we have qualified (for round of 16) now and we will hang on. We need to be as fit as possible for the next match." Chhetri, Jhingan and India's number one goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu were named in a full-strength team but the latter two were not released by their respective Indian Super League clubs.

After an appeal from Chhetri himself, Jhingan was released.

"I am feeling guilty of