Born in Andhra Pradesh, India on August 3, 1984, Sunil Chhetri is a professional Indian football player who plays as a striker and captains both Bengaluru FC and India. He has the most appearances for the national team and is also the country’s top goal scorer of all time. On the international goal-scoring leaderboard, he stands fifth, tied up with the Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas on 84 goals and two goals behind the seven-time ballon dor winner Lionel Messi. Sunil Chhetri Says It Would Be Great To Play AFC Asian Cup in Front of Fans at Home.

Sunil Chhetri started his youth career in 2001 at the City Club of New Delhi and one year later was signed by Mohun Bagan for his first professional debut. In 2005 he left the club and carried on his journey, as played in many different clubs including the Portuguese club, Sporting CP for whom he played in the reserve team. Chhetri made his ISL debut in 2015 with Mumbai City as they picked him at the auction for rupees 1.2 crores making him the most expensive player. He was the first Indian player to score a hat-trick in ISL and was Mumbai FC’s top goal scorer of the season.

He made his return to Bengaluru in I-league for the 2015-16 season on loan from Mumbai City FC and helped them to win the title for the second time in three years. In 2016 he signed a one-year contract with Bengaluru and then went on to win the Indian Super League in the 2018-19 season. He has been the top scorer of the club on a number of occasions and has signed a contract extension and plans to stay with the team till 2023. As the Indian captain celebrates his 38th birthday on August 03, let's look at some lesser-known facts about him.

Sunil Chhetri Quick Facts

  • He is the only player who has won the AIFF Player of the year award six times.

  • He is India’s most capped player of all time with 129 appearances.

  • He is also India's all-time top goal scorer with 84 goals.

  • Chhetri ranks fifth in international goalscoring charts.

  • He has scored 185 goals in 388 club appearances.

  • He is a three-time I-league winner.

  • he was awarded Arjuna Award by the government of India in 2011.

  • He is also been awarded the Padma Shri in 2019, which is India’s fourth highest civilian award.

  • Chhetri also received Khel Ratna in the year 2021.

The Indian captain aged like a fine wine and kept setting up new records for the upcoming Indian talent to look up to. His amazing performances and spirit has given a huge boost to Indian football and will keep on doing so, as the country looks to reach new heights as a football-playing nation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 03, 2022 07:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).