Despite the lesser-known status of the Indian Football landscape, one name has earned considerable fanfare worldwide. The man in question is Indian international and Bengaluru FC striker, Sunil Chhetri.
The Indian football legend is known for being the 2nd highest active goalscorer in International football, with a tally of 80 goals and counting. Recently, the 37-year-old featured on the 433 podcast and shared the experience of netting his very first international goal.
Number 1 came as part of an iconic debut performance against arch-rivals Pakistan no less. An intense rivalry with immense history and bad blood provided the perfect platform to announce yourself to the world, and Chhetri did exactly that.
Chhetri said, “I was so excited that after celebrating the goal, I went and I celebrated in front of the fans, There was pin-drop silence”.
“When I looked back”, he continued, “none of my mates came to celebrate with me, it was hilarious”.
“After the game I asked them, why didn’t you come celebrate with me? They were like nah we weren’t interested”.
For those wondering why, the heated game took place in Pakistan and the stadium was filled with opposition fans, hence, the wise choice would’ve been to step away from overenthusiastic celebrations.
But admittedly a young Sunil got caught in the Adrenaline rush as he shared, ” just because I was young and I didn’t know better, I just went and I was celebrating, and I looked around, nobody was smiling”.
