Sunil Chhetri likened the national team setup with his home and expressed his relief at returning to where he belongs
Mumbai City FC ended their League engagements with a goalless draw against Delhi Dynamos to finish on top of Indian Super League football in Mumbai on Saturday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Two-time champions ATK made their Christmas celebrations special, pipping Bengaluru FC by a David Williams solitary strike to secure their first ever win over the defending champions in the Indian Super League, in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
A last-minute strike by Sunil Chhetri helped India break a 64-year-old jinx as they pipped Myanmar by a solitary goal to begin their AFC Asian Cup qualifiers campaign on a promising note, in Yangon, Myanmar on Tuesday.
Nishu Kumar's seventh minute strike turned out to be enough for the hosts to claim full points as Hyderabad failed to convert multiple chances including a penalty strike.
The AFC Cup quarter-final between Bengaluru FC and Singapore's Tampines Rovers will be played behind closed doors in Bengaluru on Wednesday after incidents of street violence and vandalism in the city owing to the Cauvery water dispute.
Goals from Ibrahim Mahudhee (64th minute) and Cornelius Stewart (80th) on either side of a Nili Perdomo (71st) spot-kick for the Blues gave Maziya the advantage ahead of the second leg in Bengaluru next week.
Sunil Chhetri, who holds the national record of most international matches and most number of goals, made it clear that retirement plans are currently not on his mind.
India began their AFC U-19 Championship qualifying campaign on a disappointing note as they lost 0-2 in their opening group match against Qatar in Doha.
Four days after creating a flutter with a stunning 4-1 drubbing of Thailand, India are now looking an upbeat lot in the continental showpiece.
Oman made a late comeback to defeat India 2-1 in the opening Group E match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup Joint-Qualifiers at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, on Thursday.
Behind closed doors and with a raft of health safety measures in place, Indian Super League (ISL) will kick off in Bambolin on Friday and become the country's first major tournament to be organised since the enforcement of a COVID-19 lockdown eight months ago.
Bengaluru FC now have the possibility of facing another Indian side in Mohun Bagan at the group stage of the AFC Cup.
Indian football's goal machine Sunil Chhetri struck a brace to help the country stunningly outplay Thailand 4-1 and record its first victory in the Asian Cup since 1964 on a historic night, in Abu Dhabi, on Sunday.
Former champions Chennai City FC defeated Gokulam Kerala FC 2-1 in their opening match of the I-League, Kalyani, on Saturday.
'It's about experience. My players were fit, in fact fitter than Oman, but they were more experienced.' Coach Stimac rues India's one-man attack after Oman agony
Star striker Sunil Chhetri is among a 28-strong Indian probable squad announced for the 2018 soccer World Cup preliminary qualifying round matches against Iran and Turkmenistan.
The India football captain admitted there has been a "steady growth" in Indian football since that first day he wore the national shirt.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Indian U-17 team's performance was more of hype than actual achievement on the field.
Bengaluru FC dropped their first points at home this season after a fortuitous goal allowed Minerva Punjab FC claim a point with a 1-1 draw at the Kanteerava Stadium, in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
Mumbai FC put up a good disciplined performance to register a morale-boosting 2-0 win against Bengaluru FC in a third round match of the I-League football tournament, and played at the Cooperage ground, Mumbai, on Wednesday.
Chennaiyin FC lifted their game to a level befitting the occasion and sent fancied Bengaluru FC crushing to a painful 2-3 defeat, clinching the Indian Super League title in style, in Bangalore, on Saturday.
The India football captain said others players in the side are very much capable of outperforming him.
Buoyed by their gallant goalless draw against Asian champions Qatar, India would be looking to register their first win in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers when they take on Bangladesh.
Mohun Bagan and India striker Jeje Lalpekhlua was declared winner of the 'Indian Player of the Year' award by the Football Players Association of India (FPAI) at its annual awards function held at the Cooperage Ground in Mumbai. The 25-year-old from Mizoram, who made his international debut in 2012 and came through the junior ranks, received the highest number of votes from fellow professional footballers, beating the challenge from the short list of India captain Sunil Chhetri, Bikash Jairu, David Lalrinmuana and Dhanachandra Singh, to win the coveted award. Jeje, incidentally, was the winner of the FPAI's Junior Indian Footballer of the Year award in 2011, AIFF Emerging Player of the Year award in 2013 and the 2015 Indian Super League Emerging Player of the League award while representing franchise outfit Chennayin FC, the eventual champions, on loan from Bagan.
The result ensured they ended their campaign on 30 points from 18 matchese. Churchill on the other hand finished with 20 points from 18 matches, their position in the table to be decided on Sunday.
After constant pressure, Bengaluru were finally rewarded with the equaliser in the 82nd minute when Paartalu nodded in Cleiton's in-swinging corner.
Needing to overturn a 0-1 first leg defeat in their away match on September 27, Bengaluru conceded a goal in as early as the fourth minute when Nuriddin Davronov converted a penalty, to put the Tajikis 1-0 up.
Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan clinched their maiden I-League title in 13 years after managing a 1-1 draw against defending champions Bengaluru FC at Kanteerva Stadium in Bengaluru.
India left their scoring boots and luck behind while hosts United Arab Emirates found both after a subdued opener to record a 2-0 win in the AFC Asian Cup in Dubai on Thursday.
Sunil Chhetri scored a brace to put himself on par with Lionel Messi and lead the home side to Intercontinental Cup title triumph with a 2-0 win over Kenya in the summit clash, in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Captain Sunil Chettri starred in India's 5-0 victory over Chinese Taipei, registering his third career-hat-trick, but the feat did not invoke wild celebrations from the striker, as he is someone who does not like to "celebrate outrageously" on the field.
Jamshedpur piled up the pressure as the first-half progressed but their final delivery into the box lacked clarity. Mario Arques struck a dangerous free-kick at Gurpreet Singh's goal but it sailed inches over the bar.
The Indian juggernaut rolled on unabated as the star-studded boxing squad joined the shooters in what is turning out to be an outing of unprecedented dominance by the host country at the 12th South Asian Games, in Guwahati, on Saturday.
Mumbai City did put up a fight but Goa were clinical enough to notch up an emphatic win.
Only Sandesh Jhingan, who led the side, Rahul Bheke and Subhasish Bose retained their places, but India still won the match through a 17th minute strike from midfielder Anirudh Thapa in the third-place match at the Thunder Castle stadium.
Influential skipper Sunil Chhetri has been ruled out of India's World Cup qualifier against Iran owing to a groin injury, dealing a body blow to the beleaguered outfit's prospects of putting up a fight. The match for Russia 2018 World Cup Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 is slated to be played in Tehran on Thursday. A 22-member team on Monday left for the forthcoming game. Six players from the list of 28 probables, including injured striker Chhetri, didn't travel with the squad. "We had to take some bold decisions and we have to travel to Tehran without our influential captain Sunil Chhetri," national coach Stephen Constantine said. "He will be badly missed." Chhetri has been ruled out following a groin injury which he had picked up in the I-League.
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