Mumbai, June 03: Sunil Chhetri, the star Indian football player, is all set to play in his 100th match for the country, on Monday. The Indian football team will lock horns with the Kenya team in the third match of the ongoing Hero Continental Cup. Currently, Sunil happens to be the leading goal-scorer of the tournament with three goals in his kitty. All the three goals were scored in a match against Chinese Taipei, which the Indian team won 5-0 in the end.

The Indian team captain, Sunil Chhetri, scored a hat-trick in the match. The feat saw him become the third most (active) goal-scorers in the game of football. In the 99 matches that he played for India, he has scored a total of 59 goals in them. He is tied on the third spot with Spain’s David Villa who has scored an equal number of goals for his national team.

Sunil Chhetri is only five goals short of Argentina’s Lionel Messi’s tally of 64 goals. If the current form is considered, and given the fact the attacking forward player that he is, he has a chance of going past one of the greatest of all times, till the tournament comes to an end. However, with FIFA World Cup 2018 round the corner, the goal tally might see a change again, with Argentina participating in the multination tournament and India not.

Watch Top 5 Goals of Star Indian Footballer Sunil Chhetri:

A lot of Indian fans call Sunil Chhetri as the Indian Lionel Messi. His aggressive style of playmaking and the ability to score goals is unmatched to a great extent. Chettri, who is also currently a member of Bengaluru FC club, has performed well in the Indian Super League too.

Watch Sunil Chhetri Dribbling, Football Skills, Goals and Much More:

There are a lot of accolades that Sunil Chhetri has achieved in his illustrious career. He has been an All India Football Federation (AIFF) player of the year on four occasions (2007, 2011, 2013, and 2014). He won the prestigious Arjuna Award in the year 2011. He has helped the Indian team emerge victorious in Nehru Cup thrice (2007, 2009, and 2012), South Asian Football Championship (SAFF) twice (2011 and 2016), and Asian Football Championship (AFC) Challenge Cup once in 2008.

Recently, the Indian football captain pitched an emotional appeal to the fans, wherein he pleaded the people to come forward and see them participate in the match in the stadium. Sunil Chhetri said, “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.”

The passionate appeal to the fans to encourage them to see the matches in the football stadium saw support from unthought of quarters. Cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli rallied for support. Also, tennis ace Sania Mirza replied to the heartfelt appeal on Twitter, asking for the match tickets!

With all said and done, there are a lot of questions that props up in one’s mind. Will there be an increased (or say substantially) support at the Mumbai Football Arena, in Andheri, in Mumbai? Will the fans turn out in numbers after the profound request by one of India’s greatest footballers? Will Sunil Chhetri be able to take his tally closer to that of Lionel Messi? Will India win the match against the Kenyan team? Well, all the above question will be answered, on Monday, as India take on the Kiwis, in their second outing in the Hero Intercontinental Cup.

As for Sunil Chhetri’s emotional outreach to the fans, we hope that his sincere request is taken into consideration by the football fans. It is a very special moment for a sportsperson to represent his country at a national level. And for a player to play a 100th match for his country, it is a feeling which something only that respective sportsperson can describe. We wish all the luck to Sunil Chhetri (for his 100th match) and to the Indian Football team, as they clash against Kenya on Monday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 03, 2018 11:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).