Doha: Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri has bestowed faith in coach Igor Stimac who was highly criticized after India’s winless run for quite a long time. Chhetri also pointed that, ‘the players are comfortable with the style the head coach wants us to play’.
Chhetri played a big role in scoring two goals against Bangladesh in their World Cup Qualifiers in Doha a couple of days ago. With those two goals, Chhetri surpassed Argentine and Barcelona great Lionel Messi in international goals. Chhetri now has 74 goals compared to Messi’s 72.
“I tell the boys and myself to just turn up and give everything on the pitch, and then you will take whatever result comes. You saw Glan (Martins) and Suresh (Singh Wangjam) in the last game, that’s the kind of energy you want in games. They did make mistakes but their energy, fighting spirit, talking and listening — that’s all you need,” Chhetri said.
🗣️ @chetrisunil11: We need to fight like a swarm of bees 🐝
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The 36-year-old talisman is one of the senior-most players in the squad. Chhetri took it upon himself to guide the upcoming generation who are ought to take on the torch from him. “I advise youngsters to think about what you can do and not think about what others are saying,” he added.
“Bhaichung-bhai (Bhaichung Bhutia) always told me that you have to try and be a good example, and that is what I try to do. Being punctual, eating well, taking care of my body — the boys can see it and it is not difficult to motivate them.”
“The coach is not afraid of giving chances to players. If he sees someone who is good, he will always give the boy a chance. “During the ongoing FIFA World Cup Qualifiers India narrowly lost to Qatar even after going down to 10 men from the early stages of the match.
India will be facing Afghanistan next with the Asian Championship spot up for grab, the skipper stressed that players got their fair share of chances to feature for their nation. “No player can say that I didn’t get a chance, which is a good thing. Both the coach and players are looking to make a base of the first 14,” Chhetri talked about giving chances to players.
