Sunil Chhetri has officially declared his intention to retire from international football following the FIFA World Cup qualification match against Kuwait on June 6. The announcement was made through a video shared on his social media platforms. Over the course of nearly two decades, Chhetri has represented India in 150 matches, scoring an impressive 94 goals.
Chhetri will be concluding his illustrious career in the same city where he kickstarted his professional football journey with Mohun Bagan. Regarded as one of the most influential Indian footballers, he holds the record for the most appearances for the national team and ranks fourth in the list of all-time international goal scorers, trailing only Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Ali Daei.
Throughout his tenure, Chhetri has led the senior football team to numerous victories and accolades, earning prestigious awards such as the Padma Shri in 2019 and the Khel Ratna Award in 2021.
In a heartfelt social media post, Chhetri reminisced about his debut for the national team, highlighting the unforgettable experience of scoring his first goal. His exceptional goal-scoring prowess and unwavering dedication have solidified his legacy as a true icon of Indian football.
The feeling that I recall over the past 19 years is a unique blend of duty pressure and immense joy. Individually, I never considered the numerous games I played for the country, the actions I took, whether good or bad. However, now that I have completed it, looking back on the last one and a half to two months feels surreal. The decision to make the upcoming game my last one led me to reflect on everything.
As soon as I acknowledged that this game would be my final one, memories flooded back. I reminisced about different games, coaches, teams, teammates, grounds, away matches, good performances, bad performances – everything came rushing back. When I finally made up my mind, I shared the news with my family. My dad reacted calmly, relieved, and happy, but my mom and wife burst into tears. I reminded them how they used to complain about the pressure of watching me play, yet now that I was retiring from playing for the country, they couldn’t hold back their emotions.
Their tears weren’t due to my fatigue or any other reason. It was simply the realization that this decision marked the end of an era. Once the instinct to retire settled in, I pondered over it extensively.