Chhetri: ‘It’s an honour to carry U-17 World Cup onto pitch’

The star footballer extolled India’s efforts in hosting the U-17 World Cup while adding that it has to keep working hard.

There have been reports that some senior members of the Indian team are unhappy with chief coach Stephen Constantine and have sought his removal, but the India captain refused to comment about it.

Indian senior football team captain Sunil Chhetri today described carrying the FIFA U-17 World Cup Trophy to the pitch as one of the proudest moments of his career.

“I was just told a day before about it and I am here hours before the kick-off. I am really excited and proud as an Indian. It is a great opportunity. It is an honour to take the World Cup on to the pitch,” Chhetri said here.

“It’s not something related to my game and I have been given an opportunity out of so many people in my country to take the World Cup to the stadium. I am just happy and excited.”

Chhetri further said India did a great job in hosting the U-17 World Cup while adding that it has to keep working hard.

“We are moving in the right direction. These are small steps that we are taking. We just can’t be happy and satisfied. We have to keep our heads down, keep working hard. We did a fine job as a nation in hosting the U-17 World Cup.

“Our boys did very well, senior team is doing fairly well. There’s a long way to go; we have a lot to achieve.”

There have been reports that some senior members of the Indian team are unhappy with chief coach Stephen Constantine and have sought his removal, but the India captain refused to comment anything about it.

Chhetri will marry former India football Subrata Bhattacharya's daughter Sonam on December 4.

“It will be during the ISL... We have a game on November 30 (vs Goa) and then on December 8 (vs North East). I have to make sure that I reach here on time,” the Bengaluru FC captain signed off.