When India will take on Bangladesh in their SAFF Championship opener on Monday, all eyes will be on captain Sunil Chhetri who will lead the attack. The Indian talisman has 75 international goals to his name, and he just needs two more strikes to equal Brazilian legend Pele's record of 77 goals.
A hat-trick against Bangladesh will help him go past Pele, and be level with Hussein Saeed of Iraq. India are to play a minimum of four international games and Chhetri will certainly look to add more goals to his tally.
The 37-year-old scored the winner against Nepal in the last international friendly that India played on September 5. Needless to say that he will be looking to bring that form in the SAFF Championship as well, with India's hopes of clinching the eighth title largely resting on his shoulders.
"I want to win a game if I am playing for my country. No matter who you are playing you want to win. Both the games against Bangladesh had been very difficult (in 2022 World Cup Qualifiers). I don't want to lose any game for my country," the forward stated.
"I am here to play for my country. I don't take any opportunity for granted. I wanted to play 100 games. And now I will take whatever opportunity I get my way," he added.
He is India's scorer highest in SAFF Championship with 13 goals so far, but interestingly he is yet to find the net against Bangladesh in this competition. So, this might be an additional motivation for the player. However, his overall record against Bangladesh is excellent as he has scored five goals in as many appearances.
On June 7, he scored a brace against Jamal Bhuyan and co. in a 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier encounter which helped the Blue Tigers triumph over their neighbours by a 2-0 scoreline. Before that, it was in 2014 that he had last scored against Bangladesh. It was a brace on that occasion as well, which spared India the blushes with the match ending on a 2-2 score-line.
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