India should not even think of qualifying for FIFA World Cup: Sunil Chhetri

Sunil Chetrri

Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri has said that the country should not aim to qualify for the world cup as of now. Instead, he believes that the prime focus should be on entering the top 10 in Asia. It is worth noting that India is ranked outside the top 150 in the world and often fails to qualify for even the regional Asian Cup. Further, the Indian team is plagued by poor infrastructure, insufficient coaching and funding issues. In the qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, India was knocked out in the initial stages itself. The Indian team has not even been successful in the latest edition regional AFC Challenge Cup as well – an event they won in 2010.

Chhetri said, “It's unfair to compare India with the top football countries in the world. We are far behind in world football. Our focus should not be in qualifying for the FIFA World Cup "but to be among the top 10 rankings in Asia in the near future. We have to take small steps and first think of rising up to be among the second rung Asian countries.”

He added, “We are a dominant country in South Asia. But our standard of football should move ahead of winning SAFF Championships. Our first aim should be to be able to compete with Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen. Then in the next level, we can think of competing the top Asian countries likes Japan, South Korea, Iran, Australia who are representing Asia in the FIFA World Cup in Brazil this time.”