A captain, leader and legend. He was born in Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh on 3 August 1984. Football is in his blood, his father played football for the Indian army football team and his mother played football for Nepal’s Women’s national team. He was introduced to football in his early days of life. Later on, he chooses football to be his career and his profession. We Indians are lucky that Sunil chooses football.
He has a total tally of 84 goals in his 131 appearances since his debut on 12 June 2005 against Pakistan. He is the number one goal scorer for India in international football matches. He is third on the list of highest goal scorers among active players only behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
He is in the fifth position in the list of all-time highest goal scorers in international football.
In,2021 he received the Khel Ratna Award, making him the first Indian footballer to receive the greatest sporting honour. Words can’t describe this man’s legacy and dedication to the game. He
is now 38 years old but still has the same dedication towards the game as he had in his early days.
In honour of him, FIFA released a three-episode series SUNIL CHHETRI: THE CAPTAIN FANTASTIC. This series focused on how Chhetri was introduced to football and how he achieved the heights in this game. It also includes interviews with his friends and family and also with Chhetri.
He also got the title The Captain Fantastic by FIFA. The first episode of the series was all about how Chhetri was introduced to football and all leading up to his international debut. The second episode was about how Chhetri started to perform big for the national team and his dream to play for professional football clubs.
The third episode was about how records were broken and trophies were piled by Chhetri and his personal life. You can watch this series on FIFA+.
Our generation is lucky that we are witnessing THE CAPTAIN FANTASTIC ERA in football. He is a true inspiration for our young generation.