‘I just feel old’: Sunil Chhetri celebrates 82nd goal with wit

India’s go-to man Sunil Chhetri was right on the money against Cambodia as the 37-year-old captain struck twice, the only goals during the entire 90 minutes, to get his team off to a winning start at the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Wednesday.

Chhetri broke the deadlock in the form of a penalty, which rocketed past the Cambodian goalkeeper Hul Kimhuy, who despite stretching his body to full extent failed to get a fingertip on it.

The Indian captain then headed in the second goal, and followed it up with a muted celebration before he blew kisses towards the crowd, which had gathered in huge numbers to witness the magic.

The twin strike by Chhetri took his international goal tally to 82 from 127 appearances and he now stands third in the list of highest scorers among active footballers. The chart is led by Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 117 international goals, followed by Lionel Messi with 86.

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The rising goal tally is not something Chhetri has on his mind, in fact he jokes 82 goals make him “feel old”.

“I generally don’t count these things, once when I’m done I’ll have a big tummy and we’ll sit and order the drinks you want,” he added as he spoke to reporters after the match.

Chhetri also has no regret over not being able to complete a hattrick and has mind focused on the next challenge, which will be played on Saturday.

“One step at a time, we’ve two difficult matches ahead, who scored, who didn’t, how many goals, it’s not important,” said the 37-year-old.

Reflecting his thoughts on the results, Chhetri is content that the side maintained a clean sheet and kicked-off the qualifiers with a win but admits there was room for a even better show. He also had some kind words for the youngsters, especially Akash Mishra, who was phenomenal almost throughout the 90 minutes.

“I think everyone did well, Akash especially and in the last one and a half months he has impressed me a lot, Suresh was outstanding, Anwar was good,” he said.