NEW DELHI: Former India captain Sunil Chhetri has admitted he feels “a little jealous” watching the current generation get an opportunity to face footballing giants Brazil and Uruguay, revealing that he never got such a chance during his long international career.India are scheduled to host five-time world champions Brazil on October 3 and Uruguay three days later at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium. The high-profile fixtures will give a young Indian side a rare opportunity to test itself against two of South America’s biggest footballing nations.“I feel a little jealous as a spectator. In my 24-26 years as a professional and nearly 20 years with the national team, I never got an opportunity like this,” Chhetri told the All India Football Federation (AIFF).The former striker, who retired from international football last year, urged the current players to stay fit, compete with determination and make the most of the opportunity. Despite being away from the national-team setup, Chhetri said he remained confident in the squad’s young talent.“This is their time. There are so many talented youngsters in the team. Everyone gets their opportunity; just like I got mine 20 years ago,” he said.
Chhetri backs coach, rules out comeback
Chhetri also refused to second-guess the coaching staff when asked about selection decisions and the omission of certain players, insisting that the coach was best placed to assess the team’s requirements.“The coach has to answer that. I’m just a fan now, watching like everyone else,” he said.The 42-year-old, who recently returned to training, also dismissed any immediate prospect of making a comeback with a touch of humour.“I just trained for 20 minutes. I’m around 42 now, I can barely run properly and I’m struggling,” he joked.The Brazil and Uruguay fixtures come at a difficult time for Indian football, with the side currently ranked 138th in the FIFA rankings and uncertainty surrounding the domestic calendar. Chhetri, however, called for optimism and collective responsibility rather than a blame game.“The Indian football graph, for as many years as I’ve played, has always been like this. We’re probably in a phase where things are not going very well, because of what we’ve done with the national team, what we’ve done in the league, etcetera. But we all have to be hopeful,” he said on the sidelines of the Football Players’ Association of India’s Indian Football Awards 2026.“At the end of the day, it’s going to be fine. It takes time. Looking at all your faces, we all want things to be fine as soon as possible. It will be. I’m always hopeful. Things might be a little bit ‘kharab’ (bad), but things are going to be fine.”Chhetri also accepted that players must take responsibility for the team’s struggles.“I was also a part of the national team. And why has the ranking gone down? It’s because of the way we have played, the games that we should have won but lost. That is the reason why we are where we are. As players, we take responsibility. I took it when I was there,” he said.
