#1 Sunil Chhetri
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The Golden Boy of Indian football had another golden year. It was arguably the best year that Chhetri has had. How else can you describe a year when he won the I-League title and finished runner-up in the AFC Cup. And it was not like he was a passenger in the squad.
He was central to everything that Bengaluru FC did in 2016.
That second leg of the AFC Cup semifinal against Johor Darul Ta’zim will stay in the memory of everyone who was the Kanteerava Stadium that day. Chhetri scored the equalizer for Bengaluru as he headed in Lyngdoh’s corner.
But the moment of the night and possibly Indian football’s moment of 2016 was Chhetri’s second goal. It was a spell in which Bengaluru were dominating and they had to make their ascendancy count. And 30 yards from goal, in a seemingly innocuous position, Chhetri conjured up a moment of magic.
He unleashed a curler with his right foot that gave Izam Tarmisi no chance in the Johor goal. That set Bengaluru on their way to winning the tie and making history, becoming the first Indian club to reach a continental final.
Sunil Chhetri had another outstanding year, but honestly, did anyone expect anything else from that man? It is not at all close to blasphemous to call him the greatest Indian footballer of all time.
