Kolkata: Sunil Chhetri has tied Ferenc Puskas for most international goals with his goal against Hong Kong in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifier. Hungary’s famous Ferenc Puskas scored 84 goals in 85 games. Sunil Chhetri, on the other hand, has equaled Puskas’ goal total in international football.
Speaking on the historic feat, the talisman said, “I genuinely do not think too much about the records. I know considering the amount of matches I’ve played for the country, I don’t have that many left. I want to go out there and enjoy every game. I want to slide, I want to run and I want to do each and everything I can because I know it isn’t going to last a really long time. It’s absolutely the best to thing to happen to my life — playing for my country. It’s an absolute honour, every bit of it,”.
🗣️ @chetrisunil11: It's about the whole team! 🙌#INDHKG ⚔️ #ACQ2023 🏆 #BackTheBlue 💙 #BlueTigers 🐯 #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/Xq05FYmxdN
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) June 14, 2022
India wrapped up their historic AFC Asian Cup qualification campaign in style, brushing aside a strong Hong Kong side 4-0 at the Salt Lake Stadium, thanks to goals from Anwar, Sunil Chhetri (who does it almost every other day), Manvir Singh, and Ishan Pandita.
Sunil Chhetri expressed, “Looking at the kind of form we are in, we’d love to play at home. The way the fans are coming up, it would be great to play here (for the Asian Cup). On a serious note, I’m very very satisfied. I generally don’t use this word, but I’m satisfied with the performance of the team.
“We had set a target to do well. especially when we got the qualifiers at home. Now, I’m really really happy that we got a clean nine pointer out of three games, which wasn’t easy. Both the last two games were difficult to open them up. So, a convincing three-game victory and nine points and it overall feels good.”
The 37-year-old has a goal in every AFC Asian Cup qualifier he has played in. His devastation began against Cambodia, when he netted from close range. His mind-boggling free-kick against Afghanistan reminded the crowd of Cristiano Ronaldo’s free-kick against Spain at the FIFA World Cup 2018. At 37, Chhetri is demonstrating his prowess and demonstrating why the country still lacks his replacement on a daily basis.
Chettri was asked how nice this victory was to him and how he felt about it, given his age and long time with the national squad. Replying on the note, the skipper said,
“Yes, I think now I’m in the peak. It feels good. We really wanted to work hard. It doesn’t matter whether I or somebody else is there in the next tournament or not. India should be there and I’ve always said this. It is paramount for us as a nation to keep being there at the Asian Cup, so that we can compete with the best in Asia.”
“We can know how much we lack and how much we’ve improved. It is not very often that we compete against the best in Asia and the Asian Cup gives you a chance. All in all, everything works well when you qualify for the tournaments and that was what our initial game was. Thankfully, we worked hard and now we are there,” Sunil Chhetri continued.
Sunil Chhetri was also questioned about the recent shift in the side’s mentality and confidence. If he felt it in the last few games, that is. To which he was quoted saying, “Yes, the kids are amazing. We’ve got the mixture really well now. We have the Gurpreet (Gurpreet Singh Sandhu) and Sandesh (Jhingan), the Rahul (Rahul Bheke) and the Khabra (Harmanjot Khabra) to make sure, we have the balance of seniority and youngsters — who want to go express themselves.
