“He is obsessed with football” - Pradhyum Reddy, Erik Paartalu decode the enigma of Sunil Chhetri

June 12, 2005. A 20-year-old, timid stature but bullish on the ball, breaks the deadlock for India against arch-rivals Pakistan.

The international friendly ultimately settled for a stalemate, however, not many from the country's footballing fraternity could shy away from the writ large guts of the youngster in question to score his maiden goal way from home, in front of a hostile crowd.

It has been 18 years since that night. You'd expect the vigor to die down. But probably the monotonality of consistency is the greatest testament to greatness and Sunil Chhetri has metamorphosed into the role with absolute charisma.

Even after all these years, when the Blue Tigers came across the Shaheens in the recently-concluded SAFF Championship, it was to Chhetri that the nation had to turn towards. Nearing the tender age of 39, he didn't disappoint.

Sharpest on the night, sharpest for over a decade, the talismanic forward pumped in a hattrick to down their arch-rivals in the competition and eventually lead India to the SAFF Cup triumph. It seemed nothing had changed. Only his breath-taking international goal tally, which now stands at 92.

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What makes Sunil Chhetri evergreen?

In an interview with Sportstar, Pradhyum Reddy, who was the assistant coach at Bengaluru FC (BFC) when the club was formed in 2013 and snapped up Sunil Chhetri as its marquee signing, discussed:

“It’s professionalism [that makes him tick]. He works harder than anybody else at the club. Every time the club signs a younger player, he uses that as a motivation to get better."

Without an ounce of doubt, Chhetri is still at the heart of India's attacking prowess. Yet, with the snowballing weight of expectations, the 38-year-old still manages to live up to them and on most occasions, eclipse them.

“He has done that in every aspect – the way he looks after himself, his nutrition, his rest, work in the gym and in the off-season. And his mental conditioning is at a different level as compared to most Indian footballers. That helps him compete at this level,” Reddy explained.

From Mohun Bagan to East Bengal, from Kansas City Wizards in the USA to Bengaluru FC across I-League and ISL, Chhetri has continued to rack up never seen before numbers. The challenges that were thrown his way, he created stepping stones out of them. Surprisingly, still continues to do so.

Australia international Erik Paartalu, who played with Chhetri at BFC from 2017 to 202, in an attempt to decipher his greatness, explained to Sportstar:

“He is obsessed with football. It’s on the TV when you go over to his house. It’s on his phone [as] he is watching clips. He has also had that exposure of being overseas when young, in America and Portugal. These are grounding experiences. India is a unique ecosystem. Much of [expertise] is in-house. You [can] take things at a higher level of intelligence [abroad] and bring it back to your own country. Doesn’t mean India is lower but it is certainly different.”

There's often no method to one's madness. But with Chhetri, there is definitely a method to his greatness. A method he so diligently follows that even the young blood in the current national team squad would fall face first while trying to emulate it.