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Sunil Chhetri celebrates 34th birthday, Sachin Tendulkar leads wishes
Sunil Chhetri is currently the highest goal-scoring active Asian player with 64 strikes from 101 matches and third in the world after superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Sunil Chhetri, the Indian football team’s captain and talismanic striker, was wished by Sachin Tendulkar on Twitter on the his 34th birthday on Thursday.
“Wishing @chetrisunil11 a very happy birthday. May you continue to bring more and more success to @IndianFootball and take it to the next level,” the cricket great wrote on Twitter.
Others also joined in to wish the Bengaluru FC striker.
Sunil Chhetri was also named an ‘Asian Icon’ by the game’s continental governing body on his 34th birthday and received effusive praise for rivalling the world’s greatest players of his generation in scoring goals.
Chhetri is currently the highest goal-scoring active Asian player with 64 strikes from 101 matches and third in the world after superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) made his birthday a memorable one by presenting, on its official page, a throwback of his life and career and the best moments on the field, when he played for India and his clubs, beginning from 2005 in a match against Pakistan.
“In the era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, to be the third highest scoring international footballer in the world is no mean feat, and for an Asian player to be within one goal of Messi’s 65 goals for a national team is a record our latest inductee to the ‘Asian Icons’ list should be proud of,” the AFC wrote.
