Thursday, Apr 18, 2024 | Last Update : 08:08 PM IST
Mumbai’s humidity can’t stop Sunil Chhetri
The weather conditions were extremely humid to see out the 90 minutes but the skipper stayed on even when the rest were feeling the cramps.
Stephen Constantine and his side’s winning streak in Mumbai might have come to an end against New Zealand but the Englishman took a lot of positives from his side’s campaign in the Intercontinental Cup. A 2-0 win against Kenya was enough to lift the silverware for the Blue Tigers.
We all know how gruesome Mumbai’s weather can become. It gets tough for even the fittest of athletes, after a point. And the same was was visible on their faces.
On a couple of occasions, defender Anas Edathodika rested on his knees while the team was attacking. However, Chhetri kept making his attacking runs till the final whistle. For a 33-year old, the striker is too gritty to leave the pitch.
Constantine wanted to keep him out in the third game against Kenya as he was fielding his second team but he says that Chhetri starts “mourning”.
“It is not easy, but he (Chhetri) is looking after himself and as long as he is able to do that, he is able to perform. We need him in the Asian Cup. I can’t protect him from club football, but I didn’t want to play him in the third game. But he starts mourning, so ok (I played him),” Constantine said.
The two stars of the two respective halves impressed him in particular. First one has to be Sunil Chhetri who bagged two goals and the second was his Bengaluru FC teammate Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. The custodian pulled out three-world class saved to deny the Harambee Stars a chance to get the match back.
“Sunil and Gurpreet are two (members) of the squad, they will tell you themselves, and they can tell what they do. Sunil is unbelievably fit, looks after himself, completely professional on and off the pitch, and that is why he is able to maintain the level of fitness that he has,” said the gaffer after the game.
The kind of support that one video of his garnered was surprising. Chhetri feels that this win was vital for Indian Football. “The boys wanted to win the tournament and we did it. It is a very important win for us and Indian Football in general,” Chhetri stated. “Kenya was trying to pressure us is in the second half but we showed phenomenal character to play as a team and thwart them away,” said Chhetri.
