Sunil Chhetri: "We need a 100 Pailan Arrows and 100 academies, because we have that kind of talent."

Sunil Chhetri will once again have to resolve his dilemma at Sporting Lisbon with whom he is contracted till June 2014. The national captain returned to India and signed up impulsively on loan with Churchill Brothers in the mid-season transfers earlier this year because he was not getting enough playing time with the club’s ‘B’ team in the Portuguese second division and had remained confined to the bench for the most part.

It was a crucial move which helped him rediscover his scoring touch and notch some vital goals in the home stretch that helped the Varca-based club coast to their second I-League title.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Footballers Players Association of India awards night 2013 at the Bombay Gymkhana in Mumbai last night, the 28-year-old striker said he planned to go back to Portugal and have a chat with the club officials to see where he stood in respect of the upcoming season. “I am going back to talk to them and know exactly what is there in store for me,” he said, adding that he was 28 now and would prefer to make a more sensible decision with respect to his career.

Chhetri admitted that the Portugal sojourn had left him feeling depressed and disconsolate. The diminutive striker trained hard for five days a week at Sporting Lisbon and was itching to play at the weekend but there used to be four players from the ‘A’ team who were recovering from injury who always got the nod ahead of him. He said that when he returned to India early this year, he felt fitter than he ever was before but the lack of playing time made him feel lost on the field when got a taste of playing action on his return. “When I started playing matches here, I didn’t know what was happening. I didn’t know what to do in the game. That is what (sitting out) does to a player,” he confessed.

Fielding questions on a range of subject, Chhetri was asked what he thought about the phenomenon of top European clubs picking up Indian youngsters for specialized training at their academies abroad. He replied that “the follow up is important”. “When we meet these kids when they come back, they are so confident. But who knows about them after two years? Where have they gone?” he queried.

He revealed the example of a young kid he spotted in Kerala when he visited ‘God’s own country’ at the instance of former national teammate N P Pradeep for a seven-a-side tournament. “He was just double the size of a football and I saw him juggling and doing trickery which I haven’t seen anyone in the country doing. Now its been one-and-a-half years since I went there when I was at Mohun Bagan. But where is that kid?”

Providing the answer himself to make his point Chhetri averred, “That’s what is happening in India. If that kid was in Argentina or Spain he would have been put in a nice academy, then he’s going to be the next Messi. So that’s what we need, we got to catch him at 7, 8, 10 because the competition is going up, you see a kid, you nourish him properly, send him to a top-class academy. You will get the talent.” We are one billion people at the end of the day, he quipped.

Chhetri had encouraging words for the Indian Arrows (now Pailan Arrows) concept, adding that the country needed many more institutions of its kind. “They (Pailan Arrows) really did well. All the players who played against them tell me this. They are a very tough unit and a very good side to play against. That is one step forward. But we need a 100 Pailan Arrows, we need a 100 TFAs (Tata Football Academy), because we have that kind of talent. In every nook and corner we need talent hunting people so that the talent gets exposure.”

The new Indian footballing icon singled out Alwyn George, winner of FPAI’s ‘best young player of the year’ award, for special praise, as proof of the success of the Arrows’ experiment. “He’s a great hunt (find). He wouldn’t have been there, he would have been sitting on the benches in East Bengal or Mohun Bagan. No offence meant, but that’s the way it is. Because he was in Pailan Arrows he played all the matches. Look at him now, he’s one of the best talents in the country.”

Chhetri was enthusiastic about the impact of India bagging the right to host the under-17 World Cup as it would kickstart the progress of the beautiful game in the country. “It’s going to be a huge thing and I am optimistic about that. We dreamt about playing a World Cup which is probably never going to happen but for these kids, it will be massive,” he stated.