Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri who registered his name amongst the best incumbent footballers around the globe has an appeal to the football fans of the country. The 33-year-old took to Twitter and posted the video stating that football needs them and requested the fans to go to the stadium to support the sport. The video comes after Chhetri scored a hat-trick against Chinese Taipei in the opening match of the Intercontinental Cup, Mumbai.

The 2.20-minute long video was captioned, “This is nothing but a small plea from me to you. Take out a little time and give me a listen.”  In the clip, he thanked the fans who came to watch the match. “All the fans, who came out in Mumbai to support us...thank you. It means the world to us. But, I'm making this video, not for you guys, I'm going to speak, appeal and request all of you, who did not come. To everyone, who is not a football fan...please come and watch us. Two reasons...number one: it is the best game in the world and number two, we play for our country. We will make sure that once you come to watch us, you will not go the same person back home,” he said.

“To all of you, who support big European clubs and support 'your' European club with so much passion and sometimes you feel that 'The level is not same and why waste your time?' Agreed. The level is not the same, not even close but with our desire and determination, we will make sure and try our best to make your time worth. To all of you, who have lost hope and do not have any hope in Indian football, I request you to come and watch us in the stadiums. It is not fun to criticise or abuse on the internet. Come to the stadium, do it on our face, scream at us, shout at us, abuse us and who knows, one day we might change you guys. You might start cheering for us,” he further added.

“To all of you, who are fans but couldn't come, didn't come, play, work, school...please! Come and watch us in the stadiums. You guys have no idea how important you guys are and how important your support is. So, today I'm requesting all of you 4th, 7th and hopefully the 10th June, we are playing in Mumbai and please come and support us, encourage us, abuse us, criticise us, talk about the game, go back home, have discussions about the game. But, please get involved. This is a very important time and juncture in Indian football and football in India needs you guys,” he said on a concluding note. India will next play against Kenya, at the Andheri Sports Complex, Mumbai.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 02, 2018 09:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).