Sunil Chhetri

Sunil Chhetri

Sunil Chhetri ( born August 3, 1984 in Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India) is an Indian football player. The striker plays for the selection of India. In the National Football League and I- League he played with the JCT Mills, East Bengal from Kolkata and Dempo SC of Goa before moving to Sporting Kansas City in the American League in 2010. In 2011 he returned to India, where he first played for Chirag United SC, and then for Mohun Bagan AC. For the 2012/13 season Chhetri joined the second team of Sporting Lisbon.

Career

At eighteen, Chhetri signed in 2002 Mohun Bagan of Kolkata, there he was, however, no regular players and therefore three years later moved to league rival JCT from the Punjab. In the last season of the NFL (2006/ 07) the striker get twelve hits for the Mills, Chhetri was chosen in this season 's best player and the best striker of the season.

In the first season of I-League reach him yet seven goals. After the end of the season Chhetri moved back to Kolkata and signed with East Bengal a contract where he graduated fourteen games in a season, scoring seven goals. In the following season he moved to Dempo SC, where he signed a two -year contract. In the 2009/10 season he scored eight times in thirteen games.

In the 24th March 2010, he joined the Kansas City Wizards. He was the first Indian footballer who played in a Major League Soccer club. His first game for the Wizards he made in qualifying for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup against Colorado Rapids. During the game he got a yellow card and was substituted at half-time. While the MLS season in 2010, he completed no league game for Kansas City. On July 25, 2011, he played again in a friendly match against Manchester United. He was released for the Indian national Subsequently, the preparing for the AFC Asian Cup. On 11 February 2011, he signed with the Indian first division club Chirag United, but then switched already on 22 July 2011 for the Mohun Bagan AC.

For the season 2012/13 he moved to Portugal for the second team ( Equipa B) of Sporting Lisbon in the Portuguese second division.

National

After he had taken part in the South Asian Games in 2004 with the U-20 team, Chhetri was called to the national team for the first time in 2005. He scored his first goal in a friendly match against Pakistan ( Full 1:1).

With the national team he took part in the 2007 Nehru Cup and was able to place first with the team after a 1-0 over Syria. In the South Asian Federation Cup Chetri reached together with the team the final, where they lost 0-1 to the Maldives.

His biggest success with the Indian team had Chhetri at AFC Challenge Cup 2008, where he scored the winning goal in the semi-final against Myanmar and India paved paving the way to the final. The discharged in the Ambedkar Stadium final was won by India 4-1, with equal Chhetri scored three goals. In 2009 he again won the Nehru Cup with India. In the second group match, he scored his only goal of the tournament against Kyrgyzstan.

For the Indian squad for the AFC Asian Cup 2011 he was also nominated in the final Chhetri scored two goals. During qualification for the AFC Challenge Cup 2012, he was captain of the national team.

In the South Asian Federation Cup in 2011 on home soil Chhetri was with seven goals scorer and had thus contributed significantly to the title of his team.

2012 won Chhetri with the Indian team in the Nehru Cup final against Cameroon 5-4 on penalties. He shared the title of top scorer with four goals.

Trivia

Chhetris parents are from Nepal. His father KB Chhetri was an officer in the Indian Army and his mother, Sushila Chhetri, playing for the women national football team of Nepal.