What’s the story?
Indian national football team captain Sunil Chhetri has set a unique benchmark of inspiration for the sport in the country by being the first Indian to be featured on the cover of the AFC Quarterly magazine.
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The context
The prestigious AFC Quarterly is officially published by the Asian Football Confederation and includes exclusive and in-depth interviews and features on leading players, coaches, clubs and federations and news and updates on the confederation’s competitions.
The admired Indian captain found his way to the cover of the 19th issue of the magazine.
The news has gone viral on social media.
The heart of the matter
Describing the legend as “India’s icon leading club and country to continental glory” on the cover, the Quarterly features a six page article on the life of the star footballer.
Attributing the growth of the Indian football team and the increase in the prominence of the sport in the country to the 32-year-old Chhetri, the author, Peter Alsop, quotes several incidents supporting his beliefs in this legendary striker. Despite previous attempts, the author claims that the Indian team, led by Chhetri, have a real chance of making a comeback to the AFC Asian Cup for the first time since their appearance in the 2011 edition of the tournament.
Always the one to learn positively from his experience, irrespective of wins or losses, Chhetri goes on to share many of his experiences on the field, especially the challenging ones. The author aptly pens down his reflections about India’s games against Korea, Australia and Bahrain during the last AFC Qualifiers, among many others such incidents. Though India lost all three games, Chhetri managed to net two his side’s three goals.
The feature also includes glimpses on Chhetri’s childhood, describing his tryst with football from a very young, having been born to a father that played football in the army team and a mother who represented Nepal’s women football team. The author sends the reader down a memory lane, capturing Chettri’s journey from being raised in a footballing family to his life-changing stint with Mohun Bagan to his first goal at an international match representing the country, which was against Pakistan in 2005 to his experiences with Bengaluru FC and AFC among other leagues. Chhetri also makes a revelation about how he never thought he would come this far in his footballing career, a revelation that many fans would be surprised about given his undying dedication to the sport and meticulous skills on the field.
The elaborate article is exclusively available for reading here.
What’s next?
This is a massive encouragement to the man and his team, with qualifying matches lined up for the next few months. India will be playing two games against Macau in September and October whose results will decide the future of the team in the next AFC Asian Cup.
Author’s take
It has been simply a big moment of pride for the nation to see the humble captain of the national football team to make it all the way to the well-deserved cover of this prestigious magazine and promises to inspire the many budding footballers that aspire to be like him someday.
