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.
Baichung Bhutia is not amused at the way India teammate Sunil Chhetri was treated by Coventry City and feels the Delhi player's agent could have handled the situation better. "Sunil's agent and Coventry could have done better than give him just a couple of days' trial," Bhutia said in Delhi on Monday.
Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri on Monday urged the entire nation to root for his club Bengaluru FC as they chase a historic final berth in the AFC Cup in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Bengaluru FC, the I-League football champions will host Malaysia's Johor Darul Ta'zim FC -- in a crucial Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup second-leg semi-final. The first-leg semifinal ended in a 1-1 draw.
Odisha ended their four-match losing streak.
Veteran striker Sunil Chhetri will be spearheading the Indian challenge and besides his longtime teammate Sandeep Jhingan, he will also be able to avail the services of Chinglensana Singh and Lalchungnunga.
'After one week, I was told by the head coach of Sporting Lisbon 'you are not good enough, get lost to B team'
In the 74th minute, the home team eventually broke the deadlock courtesy of a goal from Colaco from outside the box.
'At the same time, this may encourage some youngsters in some parts of the country to pursue football.'
This was Kuwait's second win of the tournament after they beat Nepal 3-1 in their first Group A match.
The India football captain said others players in the side are very much capable of outperforming him.
Though Kerala Blasters battled valiantly, Chhetri scored the winner with a brilliant header in the 55th minute to preserve his side's unbeaten record in the ISL.
The Blues will look to bounce back and stay in the hunt for the first spot, though they now trail the top-placed Mohun Bagan Super Giant (36) by eight points (28), slightly undoing their impressive run in the earlier parts of the season.
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.
Football captain Sunil Chhetri wants India to "set a benchmark" by regularly qualifying for AFC Asian Cup, the continent's premier tournament.
The strike duo of Sunil Chhetri and Jeje Lalpekhlua were on target as India recorded a clinical 3-0 win over Sri Lanka to advance to the semi-final of the SAFF football Championship, in New Delhi, on Wednesday.
India lost all their three matches and without scoring any goal in the Asian Cup.
Goals in either half from Sunil Chhetri and Frederic Piquionne were enough to see Mumbai City FC record their second successive win of Indian Super League football against table toppers FC Goa, in Mumbai, on Sunday.
Farukh Choudhary and skipper Sunil Chhetri struck in the second half to guide India to a 2-1 victory over Nepal in their second International friendly, in Kathmandu, on Sunday.
Skipper Sunil Chhetri made it a fairytale 100th international game with a double strike as India recorded a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Kenya
Paralympic gold-winners Avani Lekhara, Sumit Antil, Pramod Bhagat, Krishna Nagar, Manish Narwal were also given the Khel Ratna at a dazzling awards ceremony on Saturday.
India began the year on 97 in FIFA rankings, but after two wins, four draws and seven losses, the country ended 2019 at 108
Inter Kashi knock Bengaluru FC out of Kalinga Super Cup with penalty shoot-out win
Sunil Chhetri equalled the iconic Lionel Messi with his 80th international strike as an inspired India blanked Nepal 3-0 for their eighth SAFF Championship title, in Male, on Saturday. India extended their domination in the regional tournament thanks to second half goals from Chhetri (49th minute), Suresh Singh (50th) and Sahal Abdul Samad (90th).
The fiercest cyclone to hit West Bengal in 100 years destroyed mud houses and crops, and uprooted trees and electric poles.
There is speculation about his retirement and the Indian captain happily responds with a smile that 'I don't know yet'.
Striker Sunil Chhetri, who is recovering from an ankle injury, made it to the 20-member Indian squad for the Nehru Cup international football Tournament, starting at the Ambedkar stadium in Delhi on Tuesday.
On the eve of India's opener against Syria in the Nehru Cup, Indian National Team coach Wim Koevermans and captain Sunil Chhetri beamed with confidence and shrugged of any kind of pressure that tends to build on defending champions.
India face tough Iraq test sans Chhetri
The 51-year-old Stimac, who was part of Croatia's 1998 World Cup squad that finished third in France, was Wednesday officially announced as head coach of the Indian team. He comes with an experience of over 18 years in coaching, structuring, and developing football with players back home and internationally.
Sunil Chhetri has been knocking on the doors of global football for a while now. The Indian striker, who has impressed one and all with his abilities, was offered a trial stint with Coventry City, which is a second division English club.
The former India football captain said the onus is on the strikers to deliver against Bangladesh on October 15 in Kolkata.
Two leading Indian players could soon feature in Major League Soccer after they signed up with a United States-based FIFA-registered agent, the Times of India newspaper reported on Monday. Sunil Chhetri and Steven Dias have been handed contracts by agent Eddie Rock, the newspaper said.
A struggling India escaped with a 1-1 draw against lower-ranked Bangladesh in their FIFA World Cup second round qualifying match in Kolkata.
MBSG have added the ISL trophy to their League Winners' Shield they had won earlier in the season for a ISL double.
India suffered one of its most embarrassing defeat in recent years despite Sunil Chhetri's 94th international goal in his 150th match.
India enter round of 16 in men's football
Seven-time champions India were held to a goalless draw by 205th ranked Sri Lanka despite a dominant display in their second SAFF Championships match, in Male, on Thursday.
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.
'We are a team who hate to lose, and we have proven it in recent times. We are working as per the plan'
Defending champions India held their nerves to beat Lebanon in the penalty shootout and set up a title clash against Kuwait.
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