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Regret not speaking up to get India probables to train separately: Chhetri
Because whatever the turmoil, the Asian Cup qualifiers were the most important thing, says former India captain
Kolkata: The whole jazz about the comeback and retirement again – his words – is not something Sunil Chhetri regrets. Even though he scored once in six matches in between.
“I have been in football long enough to know this could happen. I went back completely for myself. And I know I gave my best,” he told HT on Thursday. “What I am bitter about is that India could not qualify (for the 2027 Asian Cup finals).”
After some time it will not matter who played in the qualifying campaign. “In 2015 we didn’t qualify; you can’t name the starting 11, can you? But that was what we were talking about then, blaming all the players including myself.”
Chhetri’s interview on a video call on Thursday was his first after telling India head coach Khalid Jamil that he doesn’t want to be part of the national team anymore. Beyond a couple of flash interviews, he had not spoken to the media after returning to the national team last March.
So there was a lot to speak about, including another regret. That of not “speaking up” to get the national team probables to train separately like India did before the 2011 Asian Cup. “Because whatever the turmoil, the national team will have to play, the qualifiers were the most important thing. So, pick 40 players, tell them to shut their phones, go and train.
“We are not a team that can just turn up and win. We need to work really hard, need momentum, need things to go our way. I am not saying that is why we didn’t qualify. But that would have helped.”
Till Manolo Marquez called “out of the blue”, Chhetri said he was content in retirement. “My mum and I watched the Qatar game (June 2024) here in Bengaluru. And then, three-four games happened and, to be honest, I did not feel that I was missing the national team.”
So, it was appropriate that Chhetri, 41, would, after thanking the former India coach for thinking of him, initially turn him down. It was what his family and friends wanted as well after a farewell in June 2024 in Kolkata that Chhetri described as “amazing.”
“But Manolo asked me to think it over for a week. And the more I did, I realised that I wanted one more training session with the national team. In my head, probably, the moment I kept the phone, I knew I wanted to go. And it being the qualifiers, really pushed me to say yes.”
Chhetri said he enjoyed “just being a player” since returning for India. “The only thing that I feel bad about is that we did not turn up the way we could have.”
But for Rahim Ali’s goal (against Singapore), India’s failure to seize most key moments is why they will not be in the 2027 Asian Cup finals, said the former captain. He rattled off some of them beginning with his miss from a one-on-one situation against Hong Kong followed by Liston Colaco in the same match.
“And then Vishal Kaith concedes a penalty in the last minute. Against Singapore away, I am sure Sandesh Jhingan regrets the red card. We come to Goa, we are leading, we are playing well and I am thinking we will soon score three. If Mahesh (Naorem) scores, we go 2-0 up…
“We were the highest ranked team but never for 90 minutes did we play like we were. We failed to turn up against Bangladesh (in Shillong last March) and that spilled over to the other games. Collectively, we had lost form.”
Clear that he was going to be “as helpful as possible for the qualifiers”, Chhetri said the conversation with Jamil wasn’t difficult once India were out of the race.
He had known Jamil as a coach with a rival club. “We have had huge fights.” It was only at the last camp that Chhetri saw Jamil up close. “He works really hard; he is at the ground one or two hours before training starts. To be patriotic towards the country is second nature to him. He is very involved, holds one-one-one meetings and has a good rapport with the senior players.
“Yes, his style of play is more defensive than Manolo’s but he knows exactly what he is doing. The boys know what he wants.”
The next year will be difficult with only friendlies to play for the senior team but now that the pressure of qualifying is off, the target for Jamil should be to get the first 16 settled, said Chhetri. He hoped the availability of Ryan Williams, who has been asked to join the camp in Bengaluru, will help.
“We now have No.9 we can rely on. I know him. I hope he wins the dressing room. And I hope he wins the hearts of Indian people.”
Chhetri said Williams, 32, had told him about wanting to surrender his Australian citizenship for an Indian passport nearly 18 months ago. “I told Kalyan da (Kalyan Chaubey, the All India Football Federation president) about it as things got moving.”
Chhetri has signed a contract extension with Bengaluru FC till the end of the season. Will that be his last? “Most probably,” he says. You sense a but somewhere and ask. “If we win ISL and get to play in Asia, you never know.”
