Highlights
- The 37 year old footballer is all set to make his third Asian Cup final appearance
- Cristiano Ronaldo tops the chart with 117 international goals
Sunil Chhetri, the football legend from India, is in no mood to stop as he is leading his team from the front in the ongoing AFC Asian Cup Qualifier. The Indian skipper has raised the bar even further and has become the joint fifth highest goalscorer in international football history. The talismanic Indian footballer conquered this feat while India took on Hong Kong in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifier. Sunil Chhetri scored his 84th goal and in the process equaled Ferenc Puskas, the Real Madrid player's record.
Continuing with his golden run Sunil Chhetri also surpassed Brazilian legend Pele's record of 77 goals, earlier in October 2021. The 37 years old striker who feels that he is at his peak and is leading from the front later said "The kids are just amazing, They'll probably kill me for calling kids, the boys are fantastic. We have the perfect balance of senior and junior players in the team. We've also got Liston (Colaco) and Suresh (Wangjam) along with Akash (Mishra) and Roshan (Singh) who have been outstanding. Many youngsters coming up, and also Ishan (Pandita) has been outstanding in training. Ishan and Sahal (Abdul Samad) are two players who deserve nights like this".
After 2011 and 2019, the Indian skipper is all geared up to play his third Asian Cup tournament finals. Addressing his form and fitness Chhetri said "Now I am hitting my peak. The last Asian Cup is already past. We want to work hard and give our best on the ground. It does not matter in the next big tournaments I am there or anyone else gets the nod, India should be there at the Asian Cup, I have already said this. It is paramount for us as a nation to keep being at the Asian Cup so that we can rub our shoulders with the best in India, which is not very often".
As Chhetri scripts history for India and becomes the fifth highest goal scorer of all time, here is a look at how Twitter reacted: