India is a country where our knowledge related to football is limited to Ronaldo and Messi. At least for most of us! Among the Indian football superstars, after Baichung Bhutia it is one and only Sunil Chhetri! Born on 3 August, 1984, the Indian football superstar has been constantly making us proud in the national and international football arena with his incredible game.
Indian skipper’s fan following has grown manifolds after Sunil Chhetri urged Indian sports lovers to come and support his team in an emotional video posted on Twitter.
“To all of you, who have lost hope or don’t have any hope in Indian football, we request you to come and watch us in the stadium,”
This is nothing but a small plea from me to you. Take out a little time and give me a listen. pic.twitter.com/fcOA3qPH8i
— Sunil Chhetri (@chetrisunil11) June 2, 2018
Even Sachin Tendulkar appealed to support Sunil Chhetri and his team.
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
Here are 10 incredible facts about Sunil Chhetri we bet you didn’t know.
#1 Sunil Chhetri’s father K. B. Chhetri was an Indian Army officer and played football for Indian Army’s team.
#2 His mother played football for Nepal’s national team. No wonder why Sunil Chhetri started playing football at a very young age.
#3 Sunil Chhetri began his career with Mohun Bagan in 2002-03 season with 4 goals in the entire season. In next two seasons, he scored only 2-2 goals.
#4 On 30 August, 2009, Chhetri signed a three-year contract with English Football League Championship side Queens Park Rangers. But sadly, he was denied work permit visa by the British government because India’s FIFA ranking was not in the top 70.
#5 Sunil signed for Kansas City Wazards on 24 March 2010 and become the third Indian footballer to play outside of South Asia and the first Indian to play in Major Soccer League.
#6 Chhetri is the first Indian footballer to score 50 international goals while playing for the national side. He scored his 50th goal in 2018 World Cup Qualifying match. He also holds the record for the most number of goals at international platform. He has scored 56 goals since 2005.
#7 Sunil Chhetri is the four time winner of All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player of the Year (2007, 2011, 2013 and 2014).
#8 with 101 international matches, Sunil Cheetri is the most capped Indian player. He also holds the record for the most number of goals at international platform. He has scored 64 goals since 2005.
#9 Chhetri married his long time sweetheart Sonam Bhattacharya on On 4 December 2017.
#10 With 61 goals in international events, Sunil Chhetri is only behind Ronaldo (81 goals) and Messi (64 goals).
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