Today in History | Famous Birthdays
Sunil Chhetri
India's legendary striker turns 37 today and has completed 16 years in International Football.
Football is in his blood
He comes from a footballer family as his mother Sushila Chhetri and her sisters have played for the Nepal Women's National Team while his father KB Chhetri has played football for the Indian Army.
Chhetri's wife Sonam Bhattacharya is the daughter of renowned footballer Subrata Bhattacharya.
He comes from a footballer family as his mother Sushila Chhetri and her sisters have played for the Nepal Women's National Team while his father KB Chhetri has played football for the Indian Army.
Chhetri's wife Sonam Bhattacharya is the daughter of renowned footballer Subrata Bhattacharya.
Football Career
After representing India at the 2001 Asian School Championships, Chhetri gave up his college education to focus on his professional football career
He joined his first club, Mohun Bagan, in 2002 and there is no looking back.
His International football journey began with a match against Pakistan in 2005 where he scored a goal to level the game 1-1
2nd Highest Active International Goal-scorer
Chhetri surpassed Messi in terms of International goals for his country (74) with his twin strikes in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier match against Bangladesh. Lionel Messi has scored 72 goals for Argentina while Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list with 103 goals for Portugal. Chhetri is also 13th on the all-time international goal scorers list.
Six Player of the Year Awards
The Indian striker has a record six All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player of the Year Awards on his name and is the only player to win this award more than 3 times. He was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 2011 and Padma Sri in 2019 by the Government of India.
Only Indian player with most hat-tricks
Chhetri scored a hat-trick in 3 different international matches against Tajikistan, Vietnam, and Chinese Taipei in the year 2008, 2010, and 2018 respectively. He also scored two hat-tricks in the Indian Super League (ISL) matches.
Played for 3 Foreign Football Clubs
Our Begaluru striker is the only Indian player to have played for foreign football clubs on three different continents - Asia, Europe, and North America. He has played for Kansas City Wizards of the Major League Soccer (US, North America), Sporting Lisbon (Portugal, Europe) and various Indian clubs in Asia. He also signed for Queens Park Rangers (UK, Europe) however, he was denied work visa by the British and hence couldn't play for them.
Chhetri surpassed Messi in terms of International goals for his country (74) with his twin strikes in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier match against Bangladesh. Lionel Messi has scored 72 goals for Argentina while Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list with 103 goals for Portugal. Chhetri is also 13th on the all-time international goal scorers list.
Six Player of the Year Awards
The Indian striker has a record six All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player of the Year Awards on his name and is the only player to win this award more than 3 times. He was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 2011 and Padma Sri in 2019 by the Government of India.
Only Indian player with most hat-tricks
Chhetri scored a hat-trick in 3 different international matches against Tajikistan, Vietnam, and Chinese Taipei in the year 2008, 2010, and 2018 respectively. He also scored two hat-tricks in the Indian Super League (ISL) matches.
Played for 3 Foreign Football Clubs
Our Begaluru striker is the only Indian player to have played for foreign football clubs on three different continents - Asia, Europe, and North America. He has played for Kansas City Wizards of the Major League Soccer (US, North America), Sporting Lisbon (Portugal, Europe) and various Indian clubs in Asia. He also signed for Queens Park Rangers (UK, Europe) however, he was denied work visa by the British and hence couldn't play for them.
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