Mumbai: Without a win in their last five matches, Bengaluru FC are going through a bumpy ride right now, currently placed fifth in the I-League standings. But despite all the gloom, skipper Sunil Chhetri hit a personal milestone in the previous match against Aizawl when got on the scoresheet to become the highest Indian goalscorer in NFL/I-League history going past Bhaichung Bhutia’s record of 89 goals.
“I missed a penalty after scoring the record-breaking goal and that cost us two points,” said Chhetri. “In moments like these, whatever you have done in the past does not count for much. You’re as good as your last game.”
His total of 90 goals however, is dwarfed by the records of foreign imports like Ranti Martins who have hit more than 150 each. Chhetri believes that it is due to a lack of game time that Indian strikers have a poor strike rate. “The worst part over here is that apart from Bhaichung, Jeje (Lalpekhlua) and me, you don’t see many Indian strikers playing day in day out. I hope someone breaks my record. That would mean that he is scoring for the national team also. That’s good for the country,” he remarked.
With India having been drawn alongside Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan and Macau in the qualifying stages of the AFC Asian Cup 2019, Chhetri stressed that it’s by no means an easy draw. “It would be a huge mistake if we considered this as a ‘favourable’ draw,” he said. “Myanmar outplayed us and beat us 1-0 the last time we faced them. Kyrgyzstan are doing really well and we don’t even know anything about Macau,” he added.
