An overcast sky over Salt Lake Stadium reflected the sullen mood in the Indian camp as their talismanic striker Sunil Chhetri laced up his boots for one final time in the World Cup qualifier against Kuwait – a match that ultimately ended in 0-0, with India’s dream of qualifying for the next round getting even harder to realise.
As the departing skipper stepped onto the ground for warm-up an hour before the match, the steadily-filling stadium roared its approval. Chhetri, on his part, acknowledged the cheers before joining his teammates for the practice drills.
Even though Chhetri had said the day before the match that of more significance was India’s chance to qualify for the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, something that hadn’t been done in the country’s history, the magnitude of the skipper’s swansong was felt through the crowd assembled to give him a final farewell.
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 🫡🫶#SunilChhetri #IndianFootball #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/oIseyjdpno
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) June 6, 2024
But as Dinesh Karthik had said in a recent video after his retirement after Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s elimination from this year’s Indian Premier League,“ In sport, there are no fairytale endings,” Chhetri’s last match for the Blue Tigers ended with India going further away from the goal of qualifying for the next round.
The emotions that he kept from bubbling over all these days, came out in the form of tears as the Indian players gave him a guard of honour as Chhetri took the final walk from the field into the locker room. The curtains fell for one of the best strikers of the country who rode off into the sunset with 94 goals in 151 matches.
India started with a 4-3-3 formation with Jay Gupta making his senior team debut in place of veteran Subhasish Bose in the centre of defence alongside Anwar Ali, Rahul Bheke and Nikhil Poojary. The back-4 was immediately put under pressure by Kuwait, playing without winger Shabaib Al-Khaldi, with Eid Al-Rashedi leaving Poojary in his wake and sending a perfect through ball to Mohammad Daham, only for Gurpreet Singh Sandhu to make an excellent save in the 4th minute of the match.
The magnitude of the skipper’s swansong was felt through the crowd assembled to give him a final farewell. (Express photo by Partha Paul)
Kuwait would keep threatening with their dynamic wing play while the crowd cheered even the basic saves made by the Indian goalkeeper as India slowly and steadily tried to grow into the match. A best example of India’s attacking prowess came in the 11th minute when a determined run by Liston Colaco resulted in a corner, only for Anwar Ali to head high from the ensuing set piece.
Lack of quality
Chances would be rare going forward as Kuwait dominated the midfield for most of the first half with India’s lack of ball control and inability to keep possession in the middle playing to their detriment. India would only depend on counters and occasional luck with debutant Gupta spraying in a low cross towards Abdul Sahal, which was eventually cleared. Sahal would get another chance in the 29th minute but his shot was blocked with Colaco’s rebound only grazing the side netting.
IN PICS: Sunil Chhetri in tears after last match for India ends in a 0-0 draw vs Kuwait
The man of the moment Chhetri couldn’t get a proper sniff in the first half, floating inside the opposition penalty box but let down by his teammates, who couldn’t feed the ball to him in an opportune position, with Kuwait clearly being the happier side at half time.
India switched into attacking mode in the second half with Rahim Ali and Brandon Fernandes coming in for Sahal and Anirudh Thapa. Chhetri was now playing behind the striker with Suresh Singh Wangjam being the lone central defensive midfielder. It almost paid dividends with Fernandes playing a through ball to Ali, who evaded his defender but only hit the goalkeeper as India witnessed first-hand what their future would look like after Chhetri.
India looked much better in the second period with the substitutes, especially Ali, dictating play with neither team having a clear edge. Manvir Singh would be introduced in the 70th minute in place of a spent Colaco.
There were 7 minutes added which saw a mini-brawl with several players of both teams involved.
India now stare at an uncertain future without their most decorated striker with various permutations and combinations in play to keep them mathematically in the hunt for the third round of qualifiers. India now have 5 points with a game in hand and will have to look at the results of the remaining matches with their fate out of their hands.