New Delhi: Indian football icon Sunil Chhetri on Thursday announced his decision to retire from international football after the FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Kuwait in Kolkata on June 6, bringing the curtains down on a glorious two-decade career.
The long-serving national team captain announced his decision via a video he posted on his social media accounts.
“The recollection of the last 19 years is a combination of duty, pressure and immense joy. I never thought that these were the many games I would play for the country, good or bad but now I did but these last one and half two months I did. And this (the feeling) was very strange. I was probably going towards the decision that this game (against Kuwait) is going to be my last,” Chhetri said.
The 40-year-old striker made his international debut against Pakistan on 12th June 2005 and scored his first goal for India in the same match.
As of now, Chhetri stands tall with the third most international goals among currently active players, behind Argentine legend Lionel Messi at number two and the leader Cristiano Ronaldo, the legend from Portugal.
Chhetri’s decorated career saw him winning the AIFF Player of the Year award on six occasions, besides receiving the Arjuna Award in 2011 and the Padma Shri in 2019.
On the international stage, Chhetri was part of the title-winning Indian teams in the AFC Challenge Cup in 2008, the SAFF Championship in 2011 and 2015, the Nehru Cup in 2007, 2009 and 2012, as well as the Intercontinental Cup in 2017 and 2018.
Going into Chhetri’s last international outing next month, India is currently second in Group A of FIFA World Cup qualifiers with four points, behind leaders Qatar. Kuwait are fourth with 3 points.
