ISL: Hunger for goals will stay till the day I die, says Sunil Chhetri

It may have been six months since Sunil Chhetri left the international arena teary-eyed at the Salt Lake Stadium, but the talismanic former India skipper showed he still has enough fire in his belly on Wednesday. The 40-year-old played the super sub to perfection when he helped his club side Bengaluru FC rally with two goals to snatch full points from Mohammedan Sporting in their Indian Super League (ISL) face-off in Kolkata.

The former champions, for whom Chhetri had been plying his trade for long in the final leg of his career and even made Bengaluru his home, are locked in a title-race with Mohun Bagan Super Giants at the moment. The hunger for goals from someone, who has been there and done that, came up during a chat with the down-to-earth star after the match.  

‘’I think the day I die, I will still have the hunger for goals. It’s something inbuilt in me…it’s not that I manage to score everyday but I aim to score or set up goals whenever I am on the pitch,’’ he remarked in zest. After scoring both his team’s goals in a 2-1 win, the veteran now has a record of scoring against all 15 teams in the ISL so far – hardly surprising for a man who is the fourth-highest goalgetter in international football with 94 goals from 151 matches.

After staying in third position in the list of active footballers for a long period, Chhetri has now slipped a place in the all-time list after Cristiano Ronaldo (135 goals), Leo Messi (112) and Ali Dei (108). The equaliser which he scored from the spot on Wednesday ushered in another landmark for him as he has now converted the maximum number of penalties (20) in the competition’s history. The matchwinner was a thumping header – a testimony to his fitness and opportunism at this age.

Coming at a time when Indian football has ended the current year winless from 11 matches and the goal drought had been hurting the Blue Tigers, does Chhetri ever feel that he bowed out of the international scene a tad early? ‘’Maybe, a small part of me thinks about missing the India colours, but no…I am happy,’’ he quipped. His international career, which ended with a goalless draw against Kuwait in the Fifa 2026 World Cup qualifiers, reflected a tremendous work ethic as it lasted for nearly two decades.

What does the feat of scoring against all ISL teams mean to him? ‘’It shows that I am old,’’ he said, before adding: ‘’We will talk about it when I stop playing completely,’’ Chhetri said.

There is enough buzz as to when he will call time on his club career, now that he is done with the big stage - but ask the Chhetri fans and they will want him to continue for some more time.