Sunil Chhetri announces Indian team retirement: ‘My wife started crying… I feel sad sometimes everyday’

Sunil Chhetri has called time on his football career for the Indian national team. The Indian football legend said that the match against Kuwait will be his last game in the national colours.

Sunil Chhetri made the announcement in a video he posted on his social media handles. Sunil Chhetri said that the game against Kuwait — which is part of the second round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers — will be his last game. The match will be played at the Salt Lake Stadium on June 6. India are currently second in Group A with four points, behind Qatar.

“When I did decide that this is going to be my last game, I told my family about it. Dad was normal. He was relieved, happy, everything. It was my wife, strangely. I told her. ‘You always used to bug me that there are too many games, there’s too much of pressure. Now I am telling you that I’m not going to play for my country anymore after this game.’ Even they couldn’t tell me why there were tears. It’s not that I was feeling tired, not that I was feeling this or that. When the instinct came that this should be my last game, I thought about it a lot, eventually I came to this decision.

Watch: Sunil Chhetri announces Indian team retirement

I'd like to say something… pic.twitter.com/xwXbDi95WV

— Sunil Chhetri (@chetrisunil11) May 16, 2024

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“Will I be sad after this? Of course! Do I feel sad sometimes everyday because of this? Yes!” Sunil Chhetri added in the video. “Do I feel like I’ll miss the train and there’s just 20 days of training? Yes. It took time because the kid inside me never wants to stop given a chance to play for his country.

“I have practically lived the dream. Nothing comes close to playing for the country. So the kid kept fighting. But the mature inside knew it that this was it. It wasn’t easy,” Sunil Chhetri admitted before adding: “Every training that I do with the national team, I’m just going to enjoy it. I don’t feel that pressure. The game demands pressure. Against Kuwait, we need the three points to qualify for the third round. But in a strange way, I don’t feel the pressure.”

“I’ll say something controversial. I don’t think I know any player has received ad more love, affection and adulation from the fans in our country than me. A lot of times people talk about highest scorer, this or that, but the one thing that I think I’ve really got the best of, and I was really pampered is the love and affection I got. It’s time for our country to see the next Number 9,” Sunil Chhetri added.

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