The ‘men in blue’ are in town and no, I do not mean the Indian cricket team who are ‘Down Under’ and made history last night after their first-ever cricket Test series win in Australia.
We’re instead going to talk about the Indian football team who are in the UAE for the Asian Cup. Team India in their white away jerseys registered a 4-1 win in their Thailand opener at the Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi, making this their first victory in the Asian Cup since 1964.
We’re talking of a gap of 55 years!
The man in question leading the team, 35-year old Sunil Chhetri also did what only one man has done before. He overtook Lionel Messi as the second highest-active international goalscorer.
Chhetri is now only behind Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored 85 goals for his national team.
Cristiano
chetrisunil11
TeamMessiSunil Chhetri scores his 66th with India to overtake Lionel Messi becoming the active player with the 2nd most international goals pic.twitter.com/4EaDP8IeqK
— #AsianCup2019 (@afcasiancup) January 6, 2019
Last year after poor game turnout, the Indian football icon took to his Twitter account to urge fans of the game to show up at stadiums to watch the team play. “You guys have no idea how important you guys are and how important your support is,” said the footballer in a heartbreaking video.
This is nothing but a small plea from me to you. Take out a little time and give me a listen. pic.twitter.com/fcOA3qPH8i
— Sunil Chhetri (@chetrisunil11) June 2, 2018
As a result of his plea, team India’s Intercontinental Cup game against Kenya was completely sold out.
In June 2018, he also received his 100th cap for the Indian national team. The result means India go top of Group A, above host nation United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
We’re pretty sure the 2 million strong Indian community in the UAE are rooting for Chhetri and his team to shock favourites Japan and South Korea and take home the win.
