He showed promise early in his career when he represented Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan as a raw 17-year-old in the erstwhile National league. Sunil Chhetri has moved on since those early days with high profile stints in Major league Soccer (MlS) outfit Kansas City and the reserve team of Portugal giants Sporting lisbon.
However, these much hyped forays into foreign leagues did not turn out as the Delhi lad had expected as he found himself warming the bench for the most part.
The stint in Portugal, in particular, was especially disappointing as he managed to get some playing time only once in a while, that too as a substitute in the liga de Honra, which is the second division Portuguese league.
Speaking to the media in the capital on Friday, Chhetri admitted that the lack of opportunity at Sporting lisbon had forced him into depression.
“I was disappointed playing just five matches in six months and that too not starting. I go into depression if I don’t get to play.
“For me it’s very important to play matches at this stage of my career, I am not 19 now,” Chhetri said on the sidelines of an event where he announced the Heineken social Reporter.
On loan to Churchill Brothers right now, the star striker is on track for yet another I-league title.
But despite enjoying success at the domestic level, the Goan side has faltered at the AFC Cup with an away defeat to Warriors FC of Singapore in a crucial Group E fixture.
“This was a huge disappointment. I don’t know if the matches was telecast in India, but If you see the recording, we have missed five chances against Myanmar. We have only ourselves to blame.”
Talking about the race between Churchill and East Bengal heating up in the I-league, Chhetri said his team is taking it one match at a time.
“I want to win the race. We have got a huge match against Dempo on April 17. We are taking one match at a time, we have got a good team. Beto is a huge loss, we are also missing Tomba (Singh). Both of them are attacking midfielders and their absence is a big loss. We have got a very good bench strength and we are geared up for the match,” he said.
“We are only concentrating on what we have to do. We are very excited and optimistic. It won’t be difficult for us to reach the final stage,” said Chhetri.
Chhetri said adding two more teams to the I-league from next season is “going to be good”.
“More the number of teams, the better will be the league,” he said.
As far as introducing salary cap was concerned, he said, “It depends on the league, the AIFF. It’s a bit tricky.”
Asked about the recent controversy over him being denied visa to travel to Singapore for an AFC Cup match, Chhetri said that was “strange and weird”.
“That was very strange and weird. Me and Bilal (Arezou) reached there in the morning and and we had to play a match at 9 am. I don’t want to use this as an excuse but with I-league also happening at the same time, playing match after match regularly is difficult,” said Chhetri.
Coming back to Sporting, he said, “It is one of the top clubs as far as youth development is concerned. There are 5 to 6 players in A side who often come and play in the B side.”
Asked what was the difference between his stints in the US and Portugal, Chhetri said that this time he is much more experienced and matured as a players as well as a person. “This time it was much better...I was better prepared, and richer in experience.”
Chhetri said, Given a chance, he would love to play for “Barcelona under Pep Guardiola”.