The final whistle was blown, the goalless draw against Kuwait meant India were virtually out of the reckoning for a place in the third round from Group A of the World Cup Qualifier and it dawned upon the nearly 60,000 crowd at the Salt Lake Stadium that this was the last time they would see Sunil Chhetri in India colours.
As the captain took a round of the pitch for one last time, loud cheers reverberated around the stadium. Sometimes hands folded, sometimes a wave, Chhetri was trying his best to hold back tears.
He finished his long walk, teammates, coach Igor Stimac and members of the support staff were waiting to give him the guard of honour.
Chhetri could not hold back his feelings and broke down. Reserve goalkeeper Amrinder Singh hugged him followed by other teammates.
Before walking down the stairs that lead to the host team’s dressing room, the scorer of 94 goals for India stopped. With folded hands he looked at the VIP enclosure, as the camera zoomed in on the Chhetri entourage. An emotional wife Sonam was
clapping.
“A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE. Last 19 years would not have been possible without your support. Once again to all those who watched me LIVE, my videos and everyone who turned up here — Thank You!” Chhetri said as a glut of felicitations rained in on the middle of the pitch.
“Welcome Sunil Chhetri to the beginning of a glorious new journey. You start a new phase of life today,” wrote chief minister Mamata Banerjee on X.
The build-up to this match was obviously about the 39-year-old striker’s last outing and how his teammates spoke over the last few days about earning three points as a farewell gift to their captain.
Unfortunately, Igor Stimac’s men failed to keep their promise.
They were listless throughout the 90 minutes and if it was not for Chhetri’s Bengaluru FC teammate Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s brilliance under the bar, India’s dream of making it to the Round III for the first time would have ended on Thursday only.
Time and again, Gurpreet, who has drawn a lot of flak for some bad goalkeeping in the last few matches, effected saves to keep Kuwait at bay.
Diving to his right to parry away a venomous long-ranger or using his right leg to deflect a prod from close, Gurpreet was outstanding.
On the match-eve, Stimac had reposed his faith in the shot-stopper despite the fact that his club Bengaluru FC had a not-so-impressive season. On Thursday, he did not let his coach down. “Gurpreet was brilliant but the others were not 100 per cent,” Stimac was candid after the match.
As things stand now, India, with five points from four matches, need to win against Asian champions Qatar in Doha on Tuesday. If they lose, Afghanistan would just need a point against Kuwait to advance.
The Afghans held Qatar goalless in Thursday’s other match and also have five points from four games. It’s as good as over for India.
In March, Stimac had said he would quit his job if India failed to advance. Looks like his days are over. How things unravelled for Stimac and his men who were riding a high after that 1-0 win over Kuwait in Kuwait City... Disjointed, slew of mistakes, lack of application and pathetic with set-pieces, Chhetri’s teammates did everything wrong on his ‘final’ day.
“There wasn’t enough self-confidence at the start,” Stimac said.
On his last day, Chhetri did not have the result he would have wanted for his country.
And with things looking bad, India may not have another super sniper like him in the next few years.
