'I know it's a pressure on the boys that it has been one year, but soon we will win a game. Don't worry, we are on the right track.'
'After one week, I was told by the head coach of Sporting Lisbon 'you are not good enough, get lost to B team'
Indian club football appeared to be in complete crisis as Chennaiyin FC on Wednesday suspended their operations in view of the uncertainty surrounding the Indian Super League (ISL), days after Bengaluru FC and Odisha FC decided to stop paying salaries to their first-team players and staff.
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.
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.
The India football captain said others players in the side are very much capable of outperforming him.
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.
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 evening was graced by the presence of Paralympic athletes Navdeep Singh and Avani Lekhara, whose inspiring achievements have brought immense pride to the nation.
'I'm a different kind of legendary. Me and Dhoni are the same kind of legends. We keep saying no, but end up playing 10 more IPLs.'
Skipper Sunil Chhetri made it a fairytale 100th international game with a double strike as India recorded a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Kenya
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.
India began the year on 97 in FIFA rankings, but after two wins, four draws and seven losses, the country ended 2019 at 108
'Yes, this is an away game against a good team, but we have to prepare accordingly and think only of one thing -- a positive result.'
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.
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.
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.
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.
The fiercest cyclone to hit West Bengal in 100 years destroyed mud houses and crops, and uprooted trees and electric poles.
This was Kuwait's second win of the tournament after they beat Nepal 3-1 in their first Group A match.
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.
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 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.
Olympic medallists Manu Bhaker and Mirabai Chanu have joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative to combat obesity, emphasizing the importance of healthy lifestyle choices.
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.
There is speculation about his retirement and the Indian captain happily responds with a smile that 'I don't know yet'.
A struggling India escaped with a 1-1 draw against lower-ranked Bangladesh in their FIFA World Cup second round qualifying match in Kolkata.
The Islanders thus finish the league season at the sixth spot with 36 points, whereas the Gerard Zaragoza-coached side end their league campaign with 38 points.
Tuesday's match holds importance for India as any slip-up could be disastrous in their bid to make it to the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
India lost all their three matches and without scoring any goal in the Asian Cup.
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.
Star striker Sunil Chhetri was bought at Rs 1.20 crore at the first-ever Indian Super League's auction featuring 10 domestic football players in Mumbai, on Friday.
'We are a team who hate to lose, and we have proven it in recent times. We are working as per the plan'
Punjab FC ended their seven-game winless streak in the Indian Super League (ISL) with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Bengaluru FC.
India face tough Iraq test sans Chhetri
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.
India captain Sunil Chhetri has urged fans to be patient with the team and coach Stephen Constantine after the national team's yet another shambolic qualification campaign for the 2018 soccer World Cup.
To say Sunil Chhetri and Lionel Messi in the same breath is more than a little odd, is what the talismanic Indian striker himself felt once or twice.
