Sunil Chhetri, the legendary Indian footballer, is still adjusting to life after announcing his international retirement in June. The 40-year-old striker, who holds the record for most goals scored for the Indian national team, admitted that he misses being a part of the team.
“It’s not been nice, I miss it,” Chhetri told PTI. “I’ve got six players from the national team at my club. They come back and tell me stories and I don’t like it. I’ve told them, ‘shut up, it’s going to take time, I’m not cool with it yet’.”
Chhetri, who still plays for Bengaluru FC in the Indian Super League (ISL), said he will continue to play as long as he can add value to his club. “As long as they can have me, as long as I can add value to the club, as long as I’m happy. The day I think I am not adding any value, the day I think the club doesn’t need me, I’ll be gone,” he said.
Chhetri also backed India’s new coach, Manolo Marquez, to succeed in his dual role with the national team and FC Goa. “It is challenging, but we know what Manolo has done in the last couple of years. The good thing is the windows, the one that is left. One is the Vietnam window and then one is the March window,” he said.
“He’ll be able to handle it. Also, the plus point, the pro, (because) the cons we talked about. The pros is that he will know the players. He’s watching every game in the ISL because he has to. That really works. He will know exactly what team to pick,” he added.
Chhetri said he has enjoyed sharing days of fatherhood with his good friend Virat Kohli, but added that retirement was something neither of them has brought up in their discussions. “We talk a lot about what’s happening now. We talk a lot about different things that sports provide us,” he said.
“We talk a lot about kids, that’s a common topic now. A lot of diapers, a lot of fun stuff, a lot of crawling. But we haven’t talked yet about post retirement stuff, to be very honest.” We talk a lot, but the talks are more about the kids right now and the present scenario, not about what’s going to happen after retirement,” he added.
