Veterans hail talismanic footballer Sunil Chhetri
Say he is an inspiration to current crop of players
Hyderabad: Indian football team registered their first win in the ongoing World Cup qualifying preliminary matches when they defeated Bangladesh 2-0 in Doha on Monday. It was once again the Indian captain Sunil Chhetri who delivered the goods with the two goals.
Former Indian footballers from the city heaped praises on the talismanic footballer Chhetri for his heroics. Chhetri, who was born in Secunderabad, also added another feather in his cap as he surpassed football great Lionel Messi in the top goal scorers list among active players with his 74th international goal. Messi has 72 goals to his name. Only Cristiano Ronaldo, with 103 goals, is ahead of him.
Lauding the Indian captain, Telangana football team coach and former Indian captain Shabbir Ali said, “He is an extraordinary player. The goals he scored were fantastic. Only a good striker can score a goal like the first one. He saw the cross was going to come and he started running from 35 yards towards the second post. Once he saw the ball was going out of reach, he burst into a sprint in the last 10-12 metres and reached the ball to head it to the far corner,” he explained.
“The second goal too was an eye-catching one. He saw two defenders and nicely tapped it over the defenders and the goalkeeper. He is a fox in the box. He is very dangerous in the 18 yards,” he added.
Meanwhile, former Indian captain Victor Amalraj too heaped praises on the pocket-size dynamo. “It was an excellent performance from him. He is a talismanic player. He could have scored a hat-trick in the match. At 36, he is a very good example and inspiration to the next generation. Every generation has a star player. But after Chhetri, I don’t see anyone. Coach (Igor) Stimac needs to find one from the next pool of players.”
The former Indian captain also rued that India lack match exposure against top European and South American teams. “In our time, we used to play European teams like Poland and South America teams like Argentina. That is missing now. The more exposure Indian team has, the better they will become. We used to have a Super Soccer tournament where top class world teams used to come for the tournament.”
Amalraj also credited Indian Super League (ISL) for India’s improved show in recent times. “ISL is the only league that is providing a talent pool to Indian football now. It is like what IPL did for Indian cricket. Players who are performing well in ISL are being taken for Indian team. The talent pool is big now, thanks to ISL.”
However, Shabbir Ali, the Dhyan Chand awardee, batted for a longer ISL. “ISL did help a bit. But we need a longer league. For example, see La Liga or EPL, they are a 10-month affair. ISL also has to be a longer one to yield better results. Only a few States have teams in ISL. What about other States where there are no teams? We need to address that issue.”
“Hyderabad Football Club is also now doing well which is great for the game in the city and State. The scene in city football is changing. There is every chance that we can see local talent in ISL soon. The kids are being selected in under-13 and 15 categories, which is great,” he added.
Amalraj said it is wrong to compare Chhetri with the likes of Ronaldo and Messi. “We can’t compare him to players like Ronaldo and Messi. They play at a different level. We come from different football cultures. They are in a different league and their quality of football is at a different level.”
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