After his ordinary outing in lisbon, India’s star striker Sunil Chettri is back and in action for Churchill
For an Indian footballer, moving his base to a club like Sporting Club de Portugal ‘B’ must be a huge step.India’s second highest goalscorer ever — Sunil Chettri also thought so. But, his stay at lisbon didn’t turn out the way he had expected.
Despite being at such a big club, he was not happy as he didn’t get enough chances to showcase his talent. He waited with patience. Time was ticking away. But, he hardly got a place in the starting line-up and that forced him to move back to where he belongs and take his already settled and flowing career forward.
Having already played in almost all top clubs in India, be it now-defunct JCT, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal or Dempo, Churchill Brothers was probably the only big name whose jersey he was yet to don.
So, he decided to get loaned out to the Goan powerhouse, Churchill Brothers, who are leading at I-league table with 43 points after 20 matches and are two points ahead of East Bengal, who have played a match more.
“I am at a very good position right now. At Churchill, I am very happy. I am looking forward to having a good stint here. So, coming to Churchill is a positive step for me. I can see my career shaping up well from here,” Chettri told The Pioneer after his team was held 1-1 by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in their I-league match at Ambedkar stadium on Saturday.
“I always look up to be a champion player and you never know which will be the next club in India,” the star striker said when asked if there was still a club left in the country that he would want to be associated with.
Meanwhile, in the day’s fixture, former Indian international Steven Dias scored for Churchill in the 47th minute while ONGC were helped by an own goal from Churchill’s Brazilian skipper Roberto Silva (60th minute).
But Delhi man Chettri wasn’t disappointed by the result as he felt the team just needed to move forward. “It’s part and parcel of the game. ONGC played brilliantly. We couldn’t score off many chances,” he said as he still sounded a warning to his teammates. “It isn’t easy to win I-league. Sitting at top doesn’t mean that you will go on to win it. Consistency is the key and we got to live up to the reputation.”
With Chettri being the national side’s captain, the conversation then automatically veered towards 143rd-ranked India’s recent failed outing at the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers. Chettri, however, felt that with one spot yet to be filled in, his teammates would definitely put up a better show to qualify for the AFC Challenge Cup. The Indian blue brigade had won the Cup in 2008 at a packed Ambedkar Stadium, with Chettri getting a hat-trick in 4-1 demolition of Tajikistan.
“Things didn’t go our way,” Chettri said of the recent qualifiers for the 2013 edition. “We struggled a bit there (in Myanmar) and lost some games. But, we have opportunities to qualify as the best second team from five groups. Also, I feel we have a team which is in transition phase and it needs time to start succeeding with the new playing style of ball possession. Our coach Wim Koevermans is doing a great job and he also needs time to get that success. I am confident of it,” Chettri signed off.