Sunil Chhetri, the legendary Indian footballer, announced his retirement from international football on Thursday. The 39-year-old, who has scored 94 goals for India in 150 appearances, will leave the scene as India’s most successful player of all time.
The decision to retire did not come easy to Chhetri, but he felt that the time was right. “When the instinct came that this should be my last game, I thought about it a lot and eventually I came to this decision,” said Chhetri.
While his father was “relieved” by the news, Chhetri’s mother and wife were overcome with emotion. “The moment I told myself first is when I started recollecting everything. I started thinking about this game, that game. Of this coach, that coach, that ground, that team member. This good game, that bad game. All my performances… all the flashes came.
“So when I did decide this is going to be the final game, I told my mom, my dad, and my wife first. My dad was normal. He was relieved, happy. But my mom and wife, strangely, started crying.”
Chhetri’s family has been a source of support throughout his career, and he admitted that he was surprised by their emotional reaction. “I told them, you always used to bug me saying ‘there are too many games, there’s too much of pressure on me’ and now that I’m retiring… I’m not gonna play for the country anymore… And even they couldn’t express to me as to why they burst into tears.”
Chhetri’s final match will be against Kuwait in Kolkata on June 6, and he is determined to make it a memorable occasion. “Every training with the national team that I do now, I just wanna enjoy it. This game demands pressure but I don’t feel it. It is against Kuwait, we need three points to qualify for the next round. It’s hugely important for us but in a very strange and nice way, I don’t feel the pressure.”
