He is India’s ‘Captain Fantastic’ and the country’s record goalscorer. But Sunil Chhetri was stripped of the captaincy by national team coach Stephen Constantine out of the blue ahead of their international friendly against Marcello Lippi’s China the other night. And it wasn’t long before the Indian legend and his teammates called for the English coach’s head!
Sunil Chhetri has done what many Indian footballers couldn’t even have dreamt of a decade back. The young boy who grew up in India’s capital of Delhi started out his career with Indian football giants Mohun Bagan and grew the reputation of a deadly striker at a very young age.
It was only a matter of time before he was being touted as the successor for India’s legendary striker and national team captain Bhaichung Bhutia. Chhetri filled the void left by Bhutia in the national team and did more. He joined MLS franchise Kansas City Wizards, becoming only the third player from the subcontinent to sign abroad, where he even played a pre-season friendly against Manchester United.
In 2012, he was made the captain of the national team — a role the now 34-year-old performed to perfection leading India to new heights. With 65 goals for the Blue Tigers, Chhetri is in the elite company of Argentina legend Lionel Messi in the joint-second spot among leading active international goalscorers — and only behind Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo who has 81.
In June this year, he made a heartfelt appeal to his countrymen to support the national team during the Intercontinental Cup and voila, the stadium was packed for the rest of India’s fixtures! Everything was perfect. But that was until Saturday when India faced Asian heavyweights China away at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium — their first meeting in 27 years.
And coach Constantine decided to hand the captain’s armband to the young and promising Kerala Blasters FC defender Sandesh Jhingan! Even though India secured a commendable goalless draw against China, all the talks from the pundits and fans (as well as most players in the national camp) were about Chhetri missing out on the captaincy of the national team.
The newspaper also went on to report that “Chhetri, backed by a number of senior players, have asked the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to appoint a new coach in place of Constantine, saying they needed fresh ideas”! Not many people saw that coming, especially with India building up to a rare appearance in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup — their first since the 2011 edition in Qatar.
To add fuel to the fire, it has also been reported that Chhetri and co had exerted pressure on AIFF to fire Constantine, who is on his second stint with India, following his comments about the India U-17 national team that had participated in the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup hosted by the country. The 55-year-old had said that the Indian colts were an overhyped bunch!
Constantine had seemingly taken a sly dig at Chhetri during the pre-match presser saying: “I think the captain has to reflect the attitude of the coach.” “Sandesh is a fighter and a leader. He gives everything on the pitch. I think he is going to be one of the leaders for India going forward. Keeping the magnitude of the game in mind, I believe he deserves to lead the team,” he added.
While Chhetri wants Spaniard Albert Roca, his former boss at Indian Super League side Bengaluru FC, to replace Constantine, the national federation is of the opinion that a change in coach at this point of time will hamper the national team’s preparations for the showpiece continental event set to take place in January next year.
