A brace by captain Sunil Chhetri helped India beat Bangladesh in the joint World Cup & Asian Cup qualifiers. The 36-year-old overtook Lionel Messi in the active international goalscorers table and has also earned the praise of his head coach.
Indian veteran was at the double as India beat neighbours Bangladesh 2-0. Chhetri’s brace helped the Blue Tigers record their first win of the qualification phase, much to the delight of head coach Igor Stimac. The Croat was full of praise for his captain post-match and claimed that the forward continues to play as if he’s 25.
“Many people keep on asking as to when Sunil is going to retire. He works so hard on the pitch, and in every training session, he is by far the best. He is in such good shape and is working with such professionalism. He is working as if he is 25, playing as if he is 25, and scoring goals like he is 25,”
the Croat said.
It was a milestone night for Chhetri as he surpassed the Argentina striker Lionel Messi – once again – in the list of active international goalscorers. The skipper scored the first goal in the 79h minute, as he headed the ball across the face of the goal and into the corner. He skipper bagged his second in stoppage time at the end of the match, creating space for himself to shoot inside the box before smashing the ball home.
Chhetri, who is now on 74 goals for his country, overtook Messi in the tally and is only behind Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of active goalscorers. He also occupies the tenth spot presently on the list of all-time top international goalscorers. Chhetri is one goal ahead of United Arab Emirates’ Ali Mabkhout on the table but 29 behind Ronaldo in second. Iranian legend Ali Daei continues to occupy the top spot with 109 goals, which he scored between 1993 and 2006.
