The Indian football legend Sunil Chhetri will return to the national team at age 40 in an unexpected reversal of his decision to hang his boots last year.
The former captain, the fourth tallest male scorer of all time, played his last game for India in June 2024 in a World Cup qualifier.
Chhetri said last year that “Instinct” told him that the match against Kuwait should be the last, and retired against almost 59,000 fans in Kolkata.
But on Thursday, the chief coach of India, Manolo Márquez, announced the return of the most covered player in India for the March international window.
India does not have the qualification for the 2026 World Cup and now they go to the Asian Cup in 2027.
“The qualification for the Asian Cup is very crucial to us. Given the importance of the tournament and the games that are coming, I discussed with Sunil Chhetri about doing a return to strengthen the national team, ”said Márquez in a statement from the All India Football Federation.
“He agreed, so we have included it in the team.”
India plays a friendly against Maldives on March 19, in preparation for a qualifier of the Asian Cup against Bangladesh on March 25.
Football has struggled to find its feet among the 1,400 million people in India, where sport is eclipsed by the obsession of long data from the nation.
The former president of FIFA, SEPP Blatter, once called India a “sleeping giant” of football.
Chhetri is a sports icon in Cricket India.
The tiny striker, who measures 1.7 meters high, made his debut against the fierce Pakistan in 2005 and scored the only goal in India.
Chhetri had two short but failed spells in Portugal and the United States, but most of his career in India has passed.
In 2009, he offered a contract for the London Club Queens Park Rangers, on the second level of England, but could not obtain a work permit.
