look news india
Indian football team's star player and captain Sunil Chhetri has announced his retirement from international football. After the FIFA World Cup qualifier against Kuwait, he will also say goodbye to international football forever. Sunil Chhetri has announced this on Thursday i.e. today. He will play his last match against Kuwait on 6 June. Will retire from international football after qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026. If Sunil retires, it will be difficult to fill his place.
Announcement made through video message
Chhetri announced his retirement through a video message posted on social media platform X. 39 year old striker Sunil Chhetri has led India to victory in many important matches. Chhetri, 39, has played 150 matches for India in his 20-year career and scored 94 goals (till March 26). Sunil told about his decision of retirement in a video of about 9 minutes 51 seconds. In this video shared by Sunil, he wrote that I want to tell you something.
Sunil Chhetri gets emotional in retirement video
Chhetri looked emotional in his retirement video, during which he recalled his debut match. During this time he remembered Sukhi Sir, who was his first national team coach. Chhetri said that he had told him during the first match that now you can start. Chhetri said that he cannot express his feelings, he had scored the first goal in that match. There was a different feeling when he wore the national team jersey. He can never forget the day of his debut. “What I remember from the last 19 years… is the balance of duty, pressure and immense happiness,” he said in the video message. I personally never thought that this is the game I play for the country, I enjoy it whenever I train with the national team. There will be pressure in the match against Kuwait, we need three points to reach the next round, it is very important for us. Striker Chhetri also hinted that now is the time to hand over the Indian team's 'number nine' jersey to the next generation.
Chhetri is the second highest goalscorer in international football
Sunil Chhetri is the fourth highest goalscorer in international football. Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo is at first place in terms of scoring the most international goals. Ronaldo has played 206 matches so far and scored a total of 128 goals. Next is former Iranian player Ali Daei, who has scored 108 goals in 148 matches and Argentina captain Lionel Messi is at third place with 106 goals (180 matches). If seen, among the active footballers, only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are ahead of Chhetri. Also, Sunil Chhetri is the second highest goalscorer of Asian players in international football. In this matter, Ali Dai of Iran is at number one.