Why Sunil Chhetri will be an Indian football icon

Football is a rising sport in India and Sunil Chhetri undoubtedly has become one of the most prominent faces of the game.

Known as Captain Fantastic, the talismanic forward and has netted the second highest number of goals in international football besides stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Chhetri began his football career at Kolkata club Mohun Bagan in 2002 before moving on to play for JCT where he won 48 matches. He has played for East Bengal as well.

He also became the third player from the subcontinent, to be signed by a Major League Soccer (MLS) for Kansas City Wizards and also had a stint with Sporting Clube de Portugal in Primeira Liga.

From leading the team to drawing the fans to the ground, Chhetri has done it all but in an unceremonious manner, he was made to give up the captaincy ahead of one of India’s historic matches against China. Instead, defender Sandesh Jhingan was handed the captain’s armband.