Sunil Chhetri: Tragic hero of Indian football who never gave up the fight

When Sunil Chhetri retires from national duties after India’s World Cup qualifier against Kuwait in Kolkata on June 6, he will be going away like a tired lead actor in a long-running vaudeville that did not achieve much, but had its old faithfuls who always believed that the show would make it to Broadway.

The Indian football team never made it to the soccer version of Broadway, the big stage, the World Cup. That remains a permanent dream for India and its soccer fans. A country, like its citizens, has to keep aspiring, and so, another version of that struggle will be on show in Kolkata in the match against Kuwait. If India win, we will go into the next round, where the challenge is likely to fizzle out against other Asian giants like Qatar and Saudi Arabia. But that will mark a new high for Indian football.

Right up there

Chhetri’s retirement at 39 was inevitable but tragic in many ways. A footballer who rose above his own limitations and those of his country and played two decades for the national team after making his debut in 2005, has to walk away with his team in the same state as it was when he started.

Chhetri’s two-decade effort has been monumental: 95 goals for his country, ranking fourth in the world. He stands right up there, with the biggest names in the game: Cristiano Ronaldo (128 for Portugal), Ali Daei (108 for Iran), Lionel Messi (106 for Argentina), and then, Chhetri with his 95. Whenever he was reminded about this ranking, Chhetri would walk away, perhaps humbled by his own achievement and then again to emphasise that the others belonged to a different league. There are only 79 players who have scored more than 50 goals for their respective countries, showing how much Chhetri mattered.

Showing the way

Football in India has come a long way since 2005, when Chhetri debuted for India. The professional league (Indian Super League) is looking good and draws crowds upwards of 50,000 in Kolkata and Kochi, though it is struggling financially. There is ambition and a semblance of swagger among the players, many of whom have adopted newer strategies and skillsets and European ways of playing and celebrating.

To all of them, Chhetri showed the way, and it is no wonder that his farewell video was emotional: “Only if you’re in the bubble will you know how hard and frustrating this is. You’re away from family for half a year, cooped up in a room; anything outdoors is a luxury; there’s no change in setting to help you shake off a bad result — I could go on. To get through this is not something you can train for. It has nothing to do with skill, talent or experience. This is up there on the list of sacrifices we’re making, to be able to play the game we love. It’s a battle we’re all fighting in our ways. Reach out when you need to share, lend an ear to someone who needs to speak. We’re all going through the same thing and I just thought it would be nice if we could pick each other up when we need to. To any ISL player, across clubs, nationalities and experience — I’m up for a chat if you need one. We don’t have to talk about football. Drop me a message if you feel like it, and we’ll make it happen. The season, table, wins and losses will take care of themselves when they have to.”

If Chhetri displayed a sense of frustration in his farewell note here, he can be forgiven. No one ever fought more doggedly for a lost cause for so long on the field. Now he has to retire, seeing his country still ranked 100 or thereabouts.

A true leader

Chhetri was a true leader, both on and off the field. He could always be seen marshalling his forces, scampering this way and that, falling back on defence more often than not. He never took credit for a goal; nor did he go on shirt-ripping celebrations. He would point his hand to the player on the wings, who would send that delectable cross for him to head.

In recent years, it has been Changte, Liston Collaco, or Manvinder Singh — all of whom found themselves up against better teams whose defence was impossible to penetrate. But Chhetri, despite his shorter height, would manage to head in goals — often a horizontal flying header, or an impossible high jump above the heads of the tall defender. Sometimes he could fly, sometimes he could cruise, sometimes he left defenders spreadeagled in his wake. Till the very end, the desire to bust the net burned in him.

Time to step aside

In his last years for the Indian team, Chhetri was more frantic than composed. This reporter watched him play against Qatar in the World Cup qualifier in Bhubaneswar on November 21 last year. He scampered around, trying to make a difference to the momentum of the game. But he was up against Qatar, a World Cup-playing team ranked 32 or thereabouts. But India played a heroic game and lost by three goals.

Chhetri had become a champion of the “set ball” situation, scoring time and again from free kicks apart from penalties, of course. But he realised that other forwards — physically fitter and more skilled than him — had come up and it was time to make way. He could not find space to take shots; he was easily dispossessed; he would not dare weave his way into the box. He still positioned himself well for the cross from the flanks, executing an incredible volley in the away match against Kuwait that landed, alas, on top of the net. But Chhetri needed to do more, both for his club and country. It was the right time to move away.

Swansong

Chhetri’s last international again Kuwait will be a fitting farewell, and no doubt Kolkata will turn out in big numbers to give him the farewell due to a monarch. He is a son-in-law of Kolkata, married to the daughter of Shubhabrata Bhattacharya, the legendary defender who lit the city's maidans with a lingering glow.

There, in the cradle of Indian football, in the cavernous Salt Lake stadium, Chhetri may play out one last trick, score one last goal, and turn the stadium inside out. The team will go all out to give him a win so that Chhetri can do one last lap of honour with the Tricolour. That will be Broadway for him because a grateful country will wave him goodbye.