Victory for youngsters a big confidence boost , states Sunil Chhetri

08/10/2018

Indian football team's skipper, Sunil Chhetri has praised Indian youth teams' spirited performances over the past couple of weeks and stated that it will be a huge confidence boost. He also spoke about his preparation for the AFC Cup and picked his favourite for the upcoming Premier League season.

Sunil Chhetri, who is the most capped Indian player and all time top scorer for India, led the senior Indian side to a win in the InterContinental Cup earlier this year. Having reached the ISL final in Bengaluru's maiden campaign, he was named AIFF's Player of the year again this year. But in recent times, it has been the young lads who have made their mark on foreign soil on their respective exposure trips. The India U-16s had a brilliant tour in Amman where they played four matches at the WAFF championship and managed to grab three victories out of which one was against the mighty Iran.

The India U-20s had a rather rough ride in Spain where they played the COTIF cup but still managed to get some positives by beating footballing giants Argentina in the final group game. Even though they got eliminated from the championship, the victory against a team like Argentina has proved to be a major confidence booster, not only for the youngsters, but also for all football fans in India. Chhetri also had a lot to say about the brilliant performances in the past few weeks.

“From a result point of view, those were two great full time scores. It’s going to do a lot of good to the confidence of the youngsters. The biggest positive though is that they are getting games,” Chhetri said in an interview with Hindustan Times.

The Indian skipper has been on his pre-season training with his club, Bengaluru FC, which is taking place in Spain. Chhetri stated that the club team has been focusing on one of the most awaited tournaments for the club - AFC Cup - for which they shall be playing by the end of this month.

“We’re in the middle of our pre-season camp in Spain where the focus is the AFC Cup. We have a massive zonal semi-final at the end of this month and those two games are all we are training for. The sessions have been intense and the quality of opposition we have games against is tough, which is only good to help us prepare,” Chhetri stated.

Chhetri also spoke about his expectations and targets from the club, ahead of the AFC championship.

“We are all focused on the AFC Cup game at the moment. We’ve made success a habit at this club and the aim is to keep bettering our performances. I don’t really set any goals or targets for myself and it seems to be working well for me! I could have the best season personally and it would mean nothing if the team didn’t do well,” Chhetri said.

Chhetri also expressed his love for the club that he has been playing, Bengaluru FC, and has stated that he is very happy to play for the club and hence has renewed his contract until 2021 and still hasn't thought anything much about his retirement.

“I haven’t thought that far at all to be honest. I’m very happy at Bengaluru FC. It’s the most number of seasons I’ve spent at one club and I’ve committed to another three seasons here,” Chhetri quoted.

In the end, asking about his predictions about the Premier League, Chhetri, who also makes appearances as a pundit during the off season, stated, “After Leicester did what they did, you cannot really predict a winner. Manchester City were phenomenal and I expect them to retain the title. Chelsea and United haven’t done much in the transfer market, so I’m not sure what they will come up with. Arsenal has got a new manager at the helm and a lot of new faces and it will be interesting to watch how they cope with the transition from Wenger. Liverpool and Spurs gave a very good account of themselves and I don’t see them doing anything lesser this season.”

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