We haven’t scored not because of want interest or will, Sunil Chhetri assures to end India's goal drought

Chhetri also gave a humorous reply on being being asked about coaching after retirement.

The Indian football team’s disappointing performance at the AFC Asian Cup 2023, losing to Australia and Uzbekistan, raises concerns about their knockout round chances. Having conceded five goals and scored none despite having captain Sunil Chhetri in line-up, the Blue Tigers face an uphill battle in their upcoming match against Syria. 

Syria, boasting exceptional talents, pose a formidable challenge for India. The Syrian team’s skilled players possess the ability to exploit the weaknesses in the Indian defence as well as the attack. Sunil Chhetri, India’s top goalscorer will be looking to lead his team from the front and spoke on the same in the pre match press conference:

Things have changed

Sunil Chhetri was part of the AFC Asian Cup in 2011 as well as 2019, before playing in the 2023 edition. When asked what are the differences he feels between all three editions, he said, “I think there are few differences in regards of our team from 2011, 2019 and now.”

“One of the main differences is that we are much more aware, we have much more knowledge and there is a lot of ways to gather knowledge as to who we are playing, where we are, what kind of things we can expect. So, the very important difference in all the three editions is, us as a team are more prepared, have more knowledge than what we had before. We feel much more comfortable in the Asian Cup now than the last two ones”, he added.

No Goals Scored

India have failed to open their account at the AFC Asian Cup 2023 and have conceded five against Australia and Uzbekistan combined. Chhetri explaining the reasons highlighted, “India and me haven’t scored and that’s a problem. We are working really hard to fix that. It’s not that we go into a game thinking that we don’t want to score. It is not easy, although we had chances more against Uzbekistan than we had against Australia.”

He also shed light on the type teams Australia and Uzbekistan are and how they will try to deal with Syria. He said, “These two teams are good sides, tough sides that we are not used to playing. When you have familiarity, it is a little bit more easier. But, when you haven’t played a team like Australia, who are a World Cup playing nation and Uzbekistan, who has tried to play a World Cup, right there one of the best teams in Asia, it is not easy.

“But, I can assure you, we haven’t scored not because of want interest or will, but because it wasn’t easy and also we did miss some chances. Even in the last Uzbekistan game, Rahul’s header, Mahesh’s shot, my deflection. The same chances they got and they went in. So, this is the margin that you have in a big tournament. Come Syria, I hope we can fix this problem and the next time I see you, you can say we did score for India.”

Coaching the U-17 side?

When asked whether he is planning to coach the Indian U-17 team any time soon, the talisman had quite a humble and humorous reply. He stated, “As far as coaching is concerned, I have no inclination, I have no knowledge, I don’t think I am made for it. Anyways, there are 15 more years for me to play and then I will think what I have to do after retirement. 

“As far as scoring is concerned, every time I play for my country there is nothing else that I want, whether I am playing a match in the Asian Cup, whether I am playing a friendly, whether I am playing carrom board, whether I am playing chess. No matter what, I just want to score for my country,” Chhetri expressed his desire to score.

Physicality Issue?

India had a tough time against Australia and Uzbekistan, in terms of their physicality. When asked how the team has planned to tackle Syria’s physicality, Chhetri highlighted, “First of all, it is not a surprise to us that we drew Australia, Uzbekistan and Syria apart from their rankings. One thing was sure that we are going to get a lot of physicality in these three games. I am pretty sure Syria is not going to be anything different of what Australia and Uzbekistan brought.

“We already had two games against teams who are quite physical, that is an experience in itself. I think the most important is to rectify the mistakes that we did because at this level when you do a mistake, sometimes or many it turns into a goal. We can’t change completely, it’s tough, but we know exactly how we have felt into these games physically and we have to rectify these mistakes as well as we can. But, I can tell you playing against those teams has given us enough experience needed to face Syria, which is going to be equally physical.”

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