Chartbuster: Chhetri tops list of Indian scorers

For more than a decade now, Sunil Chhetri has been Mr Indian Football and there are, understandably, few peaks left for him to scale.
Sunil Chhetri attempts a shot on goal in Aizawl on Wednesday
Sunil Chhetri attempts a shot on goal in Aizawl on Wednesday

CHENNAI: For more than a decade now, Sunil Chhetri has been Mr Indian Football and there are, understandably, few peaks left for him to scale. On Wednesday, he ticked one more off his list. With his goal against Aizawl FC, the national team’s most-capped player and its top goal scorer has found the net more than any other Indian in the country’s league football scene.
His rocket from 40 yards out was the 90th that he had scored since he made his National Football League debut as an 18-year-old for Mohun Bagan in the 2002-03 season. That was one more than Bhaichung Bhutia, whose feat he had equalled with his goal against Minerva Punjab on Saturday. The 32-year-old’s feat is all the more remarkable because he missed the better part of two seasons while playing for Kansas City Wizards and Sporting Lisbon B respectively. The two are in a zone of their own, with Abhishek Yadav the next Indian on the list with 40 goals.

Chhetri though is a distant sixth on the all-time list, with Ranti Martins, Odafa Okolie and Yusif Yakubu leading the charts with 214, 179 and 146 goals respectively. But he could still climb up the table, with the next two names — Jose Barreto with 101 and Chidi Edeh with 100, well within his sights. The moment, though, was bittersweet for Chhetri, with him missing a second-half penalty and Bengaluru slumping to yet another draw — their third consecutive one — against Aizawl. It has been now five matches since Albert Roca’s men last won a game. The draw, controversial after the referee disallowed a Sandesh Jhingan goal that looked legal, leaves them lying in 5th place, nine points behind league leaders East Bengal.
The man that Chhetri overtook, Bhutia, is not surprised by the BFC captain’s achievement. “I remember how he was when he first started out. He was the most hard-working youngster ever, and his work ethic was amazing. I congratulate him on the achievement. The more records are broken, the better it is for Indian football,” Bhutia said.

The former India captain, who now heads the All India Football Federation’s technical committee, also believes that Chhetri has a few more years left in him. “He can surely play on for a few more years, so he has a lot more goals left to score.”
Another legend IM Vijayan also hailed Chhetri’s achievement. “I’ve been saying from the time he was a youngster that he would do great things. I think Bhutia should get a lot of credit for how Chhetri has developed. He really took a young Chhetri under his wing. Playing with Bhutia has improved him immensely as a forward.”

vishnu.prasad@newindianexpress.com

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