Sunil Chhetri – now 38 - made an instant impact, scoring the winner from a cheeky free-kick after coming on as a substitute against Kerala Blasters in the ISL play-off.
KBFC and Bengaluru FC were locked goalless in regulation time at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Friday. Six minutes into extra-time, KBFC’s Vibin Mohanan brought down Chhetri in front of the box.
India’s highest goalscorer in international football took his stance, at a position similar to the one he scored against Afghanistan in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, looked up and took a right-footed hit.
The ball, carrying the hopes of the Blues in the league flew over the yellow shirts – including a gaping KBFC keeper Prabhsukhan Gill – to kiss the Blasters’ net, crushing the dreams of the away side.
This time, though, there was no wall as Chhetri took it too quickly. And that alone, was KBFC’s trigger point and Chhetri’s symbol of wit and presence of mind.
Within seconds, the Blasters coach Ivan Vukomanovich had his hand raised on the sidelines, calling his team back – a protest in what he and his team felt was poor refereeing and that the goal should not have stood.
KBFC players never returned to the pitch and Chhetri’s goal secured the semifinal spot for Simon Grayson’s side.
The goal – which may have looked wrong in real-time – fell well within the rules of the game when watched again in the replay, proving how important the mind is while playing the beautiful game.
Greats of the game, like Thierry Henry, have done it before and Chhetri, on Friday, followed suit.
“He’s the kind of player that doesn’t need a lot of chances to score and that’s very important,” former Bengaluru FC coach Carles Cuadrat told Sportstar, “When you play offensive football and can play with only four or five foreigners, it’s very important that you have Indian players that can score goals.”
The redemption of Sunil Chhetri
Chhetri has seen his position change from a regular starter to an impact substitute – similar to Francesco Totti in his final days at Roma under Luciano Spalletti.
The highest goal scorer for Bengaluru FC and a club legend, Chhetri was prolific as a winger for the Blues under Cuadrat as the team progressed from I-league to go on and win the Indian Super League title in its second season (in the league).
“There are not many Indian players that have the ability (to score from quick chances) and we used his ability to the maximum. The funny thing is that we were playing the 4-3-3 system at that moment, and we needed him a lot along the flanks,” Cuadrat said.
Under the Spaniard, Chhetri scored 25 goals and assisted four more, in 50 matches and led the side to a 17-game unbeaten run at home, the longest such in the ISL so far. “I think that we became champions because of the work Udanta did on the right and Sunil on the left,” Cuadrat added.
As Bengaluru FC moved into the downward spiral with ageing players and temporary managers – Chhetri’s form at the club dipped too, from 14 goals in ISL 2017-18 to just four in the league last year.
With Simon Grayson taking over the side, though he started the first five matches, the former Leeds United manager eventually started using Chhetri as an impact substitute.
And that decision, much like that of Totti, bore fruits with Chhetri scoring twice in three games after a drought of nine games.
Both goals have come under crucial circumstances – the first an equaliser against the ISL Shield winner Mumbai City FC and the next – the most crucial – ensured the Blues’ return to the semifinals after three years.
“I got the free-kick and I saw the opening,” Chhetri said after the match, “I told the referee I neither want the whistle nor do I want the wall. He asked me again and I repeated myself. I think [Adrian] Luna was blocking the chance and I think he knew it and yeah, it was one of the days it just goes in.”
Sunil Chhetri in action for Mumbai City FC, in 2015, which is the only Indian club he played for other than BFC, in the last decade. | Photo Credit: Pal Pillai / ISL/ SPORTZPICS
The dust of critics and slander – owing to the controversial goal – will eventually settle, but ISL suddenly looks exciting with the 38-year-old Indian serial goal scorer rediscovering his goal-scoring form at the most crucial juncture of the league.
Having joined Bengaluru FC in 2013, Chhetri has spent almost a decade here and will hope to find the net against Mumbai City FC in the semifinal – the only Indian club he played for other than BFC, in the last decade.
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