Kolkata: For long, Sunil Chhetri has been a headache for opposition coaches. Now, he is one for Bengaluru FC as well. In a good way.
“He is killing my mind,” said Bengaluru FC coach Gerard Zaragoza of the 40-year striker who with 14 goals – one of them a stoppage-time flying header that eliminated FC Goa – and two assists has equalled his best Indian Super League (ISL) performance since 2017-18.
“We didn’t expect he will play like this,” said Zaragoza on Friday, ahead of the ISL11 final against Mohun Bagan Super Giant here. “Sunil and I had spoken a lot and we had a conversation before this season. I wanted him to change the game from the bench. And he did. But then he grew in confidence and started playing 90 minutes never wanting that I change him. And he did a really good job.”
But then he decided to return to the national team and played nearly 180 minutes in less than a week, said Zaragoza replying to how he juggles between letting Chhetri make an impact from the bench and starting him. Because of that and because Bengaluru FC had to play one play-off match more to get this far, Chhetri returned to the bench, said the coach.
“Now, I think we have found the balance. I hope tomorrow will be a big night for him.” Barring the handful of away fans, the Salt Lake stadium, which in June 2024 gave Chhetri a memorable farewell when he had announced his international retirement, will want the opposite.
Zaragoza said Chhetri “wants to be the best in everything he does, in training session, the card game on the plane.” Exactly why keeping Chhetri on the bench had been the hardest decision of his professional career, Simon Grayson, then Bengaluru FC coach, had said before the 2022-23 final in Goa. An early injury meant Chhetri had to play nearly the full match which went to tie-breakers, scoring once in regulation time and in the shootout.
In terms of fitness, nothing has changed between 2023 and now. Chhetri has started 18 of Bengaluru FC’s 27 ISL matches this term and, as per the ISL website, logged 1844 minutes on the pitch. “When we first met at the national team in 2011, he had 11% body fat. Now, he has 6%,” said Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, the Bengaluru FC goalie here on Friday.