The Indian Football Team is going through acute crisis, as they need to recall their star striker back in the form of Sunil Chhetri.
Chhetri took retirement few days back, is back in the national side after the request of Coach Manolo Marquez.
Post Chhetri retirement India have lost most matches and managed to draw games against meager teams to have him back in the national squad doesn’t only raise eyebrows on domestic structure of Indian football but also highlight that there have been no backup players developed in absence of Chhetri who can fill his shoes.
Its not that India haven’t tried players at the place including the likes of- Rahim Ali, Sahal Abdul Samad, Lallanzuala Chhangte and others but none have delivered when it mattered the most.
Amid all the criticism drawing from all corners, Coach Manolo Marquez defended his decision of recalling Chhetri back in the setup where he stated “At this moment, Chhetri is the best striker we have and he still is in the best form of his life and I think there is no doubt about this that he will deliver for us”.
He added “We need players for the national team who play with regularity in the single league. Sunil is one such player who can deliver with immaculate consistency”.
“Its difficult period for Indian Football team and if we look at Indian Super League and Chhetri have been consistent in terms of scoring goals in the ongoing ISL where he scored 12 goals so far in the marquee event.
Manolo Marquez have previously handled coaching responsibility for FC Goa in 2024-25 season before assuming the role of Indian National Football Coach, on full time basis.
He stated that reason behind adding Chhetri, in the Blue Tigers Squad for Asian Cup 2027 Final round qualifier to be held in Shillong against Bangladesh on March 25th 2025, is intrisically designed to serve the interest of national team’s Interest on emergency basis.
Indian football sad state of affair can be perfectly understood by the fact that, they have failed to directly qualify for Asian Cup.
The Blue Tigers have been clubbed along with Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Singapore in Group C where the top team of the group will earn ticket in the finals.
He also concluded by stating that “Asian Cup platform is not about developing players as the tournament demands winning matches, so we need to win and showcase immediate results so developing players at this stage is not all worthy decision for sure”.
