18 May 2010

Sunil Chhetri


Sunil Chhetri (born 3 August 1984 in Delhi) is an Indian footballer who currently plays for Kansas City Wizards in Major League Soccer. He isNepali by ethnicity, and plays in the forward position.
Chhetri started his football career playing for school teams and then for his local club, City Club. Since then, he has represented I-League clubsMohun Bagan, East Bengal Club and JCT FC. At Mohun Bagan, he scored eight goals over three seasons where the club finished in the bottom half of the league table every time. The next three seasons were spent at JCT where he scored a total of twenty goals including twelve goals in a single season where JCT finished second in the league. This earned him the league's "Player of the Year" award. Afterwards he played for East Bengal and scored seven goals in a season where they finished sixth. For the 2009–10 season, he signed with Dempo SC on a two-year contract.
At international level, Chhetri has represented India in the Nehru Cup, the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup. He received much media attention after scoring a hat-trick in the final of the 2008 AFC Challenge Cupwhich led to an unsuccessful trial at English club Coventry City and speculation linking him with many European and North American clubs. In addition, Chhetri has received awards such as the 2007 All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player of the Year.

Early life

Sunil Chhetri was born in Delhi to parents of Nepali origin;[1] KB Chhetri, a retired army officer, and Sushila Chhetri, a former member of the Nepal women's football team.[2] He played football for Indian schools and was offered trials by clubs such as Mohun Bagan during this time.[1] While attending the Army Public School in Delhi, Chhetri played in the Hindkishore and the Deorani Mamta Sub Junior Inter-School football tournaments.[3][4] Chhetri stated that he never intended to become a professional footballer: "I had no plans of becoming a footballer. The only reason I took it up was to get into a good college,"[5] as he believed gaining an 'India team' certificate would help boost his chances of achieving this goal.[5]

Club career

After starting his career for the Delhi-based City Club,[6] Chhetri transferred to Mohun Bagan and remained there for three seasons. In his first season, the 2002–03 season, Chhetri scored four goals[7] in a season where Mohun Bagan finished in seventh place.[8] In the next season, Chhetri scored two goals and these came against SC Goa and bottom-placed Indian Bank as Mohun Bagan once again finished in the bottom half of the table, in ninth place.[9] Chhetri once again scored two goals in the 2004–05 season; this time Mohun Bagan finished eighth in the league and remained in the National Football League (NFL) on goal difference.[10] In the Santosh Trophy, where he played for Delhi, Chhetri managed to score seven goals in the whole tournament including four in a match against Gujarat.[10]

JCT

Subsequently, he moved to JCT FC (then known as JCT Mills) for the 2005–06 season.[11] That season, Chhetri scored two goals in all competitions, one against Salgaocar and the other against SC Goa, with JCT finishing sixth in the league.[12] After his game against the Brazilian club Sao Paulo FC in the Super Soccer Series in 2007, comparisons were drawn with fellow Indian striker Baichung Bhutia.[13] He also scored two hat-tricks for Delhi in the group stages of the 61st Santosh Trophy against Orissa and Railways.[14] Delhi were eliminated in the pre-quarter-final playoffs, however, after losing 1–0 to Tamil Nadu in extra time.[14]
"I have played so much in Delhi. It’s a great feeling to be clubbed with some of the legends."
Sunil Chhetri, upon winning the AIFF Player of the Year.[6]
At the end of the 2006–07 season (the last NFL before it became the I-League), Chhetri was awarded the league's "Player of the Year" award as well as the best forward award.[15] He scored a total of twelve goals in the league as JCT finished second behind Dempo SC.[16] His twelve goals included two which came in a 2–0 win against Mohun Bagan and another double in a 3–2 win against Dempo SC.[17][18] In the first I–League season, Chhetri scored seven goals as JCT finished in third place.[19] That season, his solitary double was against Salgaocar in the last game of the season.[20] He was selected as the AIFF Player of the Year 2007 for his excellent performances for his club and country.[6] In October 2008 he sparked interest overseas from clubs Estoril Praia of the Portuguese second division, Liga de Honra,[21] and Leeds United of the EnglishLeague One.[22] Although there had been no deal agreed with Leeds, Chhetri spoke in an interview saying, "Nothing has been confirmed as yet but yes, I think I am close to getting there,"[21] however a deal never materialised and he instead moved to East Bengal Club.

East Bengal

"Of course, I would love to play in Europe like [David] Villa and it all depends where I get an offer from. England would certainly be fine and I have had talks but the stumbling blocks are the work permit restrictions."
Sunil Chhetri, stating his desire to move abroad to play alongside Spanish strikerDavid Villa.[23]
For the 2008–09 season, he signed with East Bengal Club.[11] He scored on his debut against Chirag United on 26 September 2008 with a goal in the 28th minute to win the man of the match award.[24][25] Chhetri scored a crucial goal in the 30th Federation Cup in a 1–0 win against his former club JCT, which almost assured East Bengal of a place in the semi-finals.[26] In the semi-final against arch rivals Mohun Bagan, things were much different for Chhetri as he missed the decisive penalty in the penalty shootout as East Bengal were knocked out of the competition.[27] Newspaper reports suggested that a few Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs, rumoured to beLos Angeles Galaxy and DC United, were interested in the Indian striker along with his team mate Steven Dias.[28][29] On 25 January 2009, he arrived in England to start a trial with Coventry City,[30] rejecting the contract from the MLS.[31] Coventry City manager Chris Coleman announced four days later that they would not be following their interest in the Indian international.[32] Roughly four months later, on 20 May 2009, Chhetri said that he would again be going to Coventry City on an extended trial of 15 days in June 2009.[33] He finished the season with seven goals helping East Bengal finish sixth place in the league.[34]

Dempo SC

After being released by East Bengal, Chhetri signed a two-year contract for Dempo SC on 22 May 2009, with a clause stating he could attend trials abroad in the future if he wished to.[35][36]
On 7 August, the Scottish club Celtic were linked with a move to sign Chhetri. Celtic had him watched during the pre-season friendly with Santboià, a third division Spanish club. The player's agent, Yogesh Joshee was quoted as saying, "I'm waiting to get feedback from Celtic, who saw him on Monday by head scout and then another scout came to watch game, I'll let you know the outcome when I know."[37] The Hindustan Times stated in an article on 30 August that Chhetri had signed a three-year contract with English club Queens Park Rangers, but the British government denied him a work permit. According to an article on the Football Players’ Association of India's official website, Chhetri was denied a work permit because India were not in the top 70 of the FIFA World Rankings.[38]Chhetri remained positive: "But it's not the end of the world. I will still continue to work hard for my country and my club Dempo, who have been very supportive."[39]

Kansas City Wizards

Chhetri trialled with Major League Soccer club Kansas City Wizards throughout March 2010, competing during their pre-season games.[40] He became the first Indian to represent a Major League Soccer club when he formally signed for the team on 24 March 2010.[41] Peter Vermes, the manager, was quoted saying "One thing we really like about Sunil is that he's a crafty player. Technically he's very sharp, and he's a guy that has good attacking tendencies."[42] His first game was in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play-in game against Colorado Rapids.[43]

International career

Chhetri has represented India at international level.[1] He made his debut for the India national team in the 2004 SAF Games in Pakistan.[44] He scored his first international goal against Pakistan on 12 June 2005.[45]

Chhetri celebrating after scoring
Chhetri's first international tournament was the 2007 Nehru Cup. In the opening game, India defeated Cambodia 6–0 with Chhetri scoring two goals.[46] He also scored a goal in the 2–3 defeat to Syria[47] and another in the 3–0 win over Kyrgyzstan[48] to take his goal tally to four. Chhetri was involved in the build-up toN.P. Pradeep's decisive goal as India beat Syria 1–0 in the final to become the first champions of the tournament since 1997.[49] Later in 2007, India began their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. They were knocked out in the first round by Lebanon with Chhetri scoring once in the away leg (a 4–1 defeat)[50] and once in the home leg (a 2–2 draw)[51] resulting in a 6–3 aggregate defeat.[52]
The 2008 SAFF Championship started with three victories out of a possible three in the group stages. In the opening game, Chhetri scored a goal in a 4–0 victory over Nepal.[53] He scored once more in the championship—in the 2–1 semi-final victory over Bhutan; this was an equaliser before Gouramangi Singhscored India's second goal to send India through to the final.[54] India lost 1–0 to the Maldives in the final and Chhetri played for the full 90 minutes.[55] Later that year, in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, Chhetri played in all of the matches and scored four goals. In the 1–0 win over Afghanistan, he was involved in the build-up to Climax Lawrence's goal.[56] He also played for the full 90 minutes against Tajikistan (a 1–1 draw)[57] and Turkmenistan (a 2–1 win).[58] In the semi-final against Myanmar, Chhetri scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory after being assisted by Baichung Bhutia to see India through to the final.[59] In the final against Tajikistan, Chhetri scored a hat-trickwhich enabled India to win the Cup. This automatically qualified India for the 2011 Asian Cup, the first time they had qualified for the tournament in 24 years.[60] His first goal was originally disallowed foroffside by Uzbek referee Valentin Kovalenko, who changed his mind after consulting his assistant.[61] Hundreds of fans waited outside the stadium to greet India's new "poster boy" and India managerBob Houghton stated, "He is remarkable, brave and honest. He never gives up."[60]
Initially, Goal.com stated that Chhetri would miss the 2009 Nehru Cup through injury.[62] He played in the tournament, however, and he scored in the second match of the Nehru Cup, a penalty in a 2–1 win over Kyrgyzstan,[63] this being first time he had completed a full match since getting injured before the pre-season tour of Spain with his club.[64] He featured in the other three games in the round robin stage of the tournament, including the "dress rehearsal" for the final against Syria, but did not score.[65][66][67] Chhetri was one of India's scorers in the penalty shootout victory over Syria in the final after the match had ended in a 1–1 draw,[68]—Goal.com was critical of the Indian striker, regarding it as one of his "forgettable performances"[69] as he missed several opportunities to score in the match.[69]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
112 June 2005Ayub Stadium, Quetta, Pakistan Pakistan1–01–1Friendly
217 August 2007Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi, India Cambodia4–06–02007 Nehru Cup
317 August 2007Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi, IndiaCambodia Cambodia5–06–02007 Nehru Cup
423 August 2007Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi, India Syria1–02–32007 Nehru Cup
526 August 2007Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi, India Kyrgyzstan2–03–02007 Nehru Cup
68 October 2007Saida International Stadium, Saida, Lebanon Lebanon1–01–42010 World Cup qualification
730 October 2007Fatorda Stadium, Goa, IndiaLebanon Lebanon1–02–22010 World Cup qualification
824 May 2008Fatorda Stadium, Goa, IndiaChinese Taipei Chinese Taipei2–03–0Friendly
924 May 2008Fatorda Stadium, Goa, IndiaChinese Taipei Chinese Taipei3–03–0Friendly
103 June 2008Rasmee Dhandu Stadium, Malé, Maldives Nepal3–04–02008 SAFF Cup
1111 June 2008Rasmee Dhandu Stadium, Malé, Maldives Bhutan1–12–12008 SAFF Cup
127 August 2008Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, Hyderabad, India Myanmar1–01–02008 AFC Challenge Cup
1313 August 2008Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi, India Tajikistan1–04–12008 AFC Challenge Cup
1413 August 2008Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi, IndiaTajikistan Tajikistan3–04–12008 AFC Challenge Cup
1513 August 2008Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi, IndiaTajikistan Tajikistan4–14–12008 AFC Challenge Cup
1623 August 2009Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi, IndiaKyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan2–02–12009 Nehru Cup





Honours


International

Individual

AIFF Player of the Year : 2007
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02 December 2008

Mumbai terror attacks: Nightmare in the lap of luxury

The terrorist rampage that gripped the world for three days began in silence as eight killers stepped from a boat on to a dark city beach. Now India demands to know who they were, where they came from ... and most of all, why the security forces failed to prevent them

Soldier prevents people from approaching the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai on November 29, 2008. Photograph: Pedro Ugarte/afp
From the moment a small boat nudged the shore of Mumbai's Fisherman's Colony on Wednesday evening and decanted eight young men clad in orange anoraks, the plan was simple: kill and keep killing to the very last breath।

The little group paused to shed their waterproof jackets, revealing jeans and T-shirts. Picking up their bulging rucksacks from the black inflatable, they turned silently and set off towards the heart of India's financial capital।

The beach was virtually empty, most of the residents of the area having retreated indoors to watch the final stages of the one-day cricket match between India and England। India won, but it was the last piece of good news the country would have until yesterday morning when Mumbai was finally freed from the grip of an audacious terrorist outrage that claimed the lives of at least 195 people.

For 62 hours, the gunmen roamed freely around some of the city's most prestigious hotels, killing at random, holding Mumbai and the wider world in horrified thrall।

Despite the lure of the cricket, one man had ventured out onto the beach on Wednesday evening। Bharat Tamore, an assistant supervisor at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, was gazing out to sea when he spotted the dinghy drifting noiselessly towards the beach.

It was 9।15pm and by the light of the moon Tahore watched the men jump off. They were young, no more than 25, thin and good-looking, 'like Bollywood stars,' he recalled later, although their faces wore a grim, determined look. On their backs were blue rucksacks, and in their hands red carry-bags heavy enough to cause one of the smaller men to stumble. They were students, they said, when he asked what they were doing: 'They told me that they were tense and that they didn't need any more tension.'

The young men slipped away into the night in the direction of the Taj Mahal Palace and the ornate splendour of the Gateway of India।

But they were not the only ones on the move। Across the southern tip of the city, others were also collecting weapons and heading out to get the carnage under way. How many there were, no one seems quite sure: as many as 40, some sources suggested.

The key questions are what they intended to achieve in their murderous rampage, their identities, and who sent them to Mumbai। Answers are likely to come in the first instance from one of those who clambered out of the inflatable on Wednesday night - 21-year-old Mohammad Ajmal Mohammad Amin Kasab - the only terrorist known to have been captured alive by Indian security forces. As details of his interrogation were disclosed yesterday in the Indian media, the first proper understanding of what happened in three days of bloodshed began to emerge out of the contradictory details - building a case that pointed ever more strongly towards Pakistan. It is not just the Indian media who are saying out loud what many suspected, but also state officials. What they had only hinted at in the beginning - with Kasab's interrogation - was yesterday stated more boldly. '[The] investigation carried out so far has revealed the hand of Pakistan-based groups in the Mumbai attack,' said Sri Prakash Jaiswal, India's Minister of State for Home Affairs.

As Kasab left the docks, it was in the company of a man the police say has been identified as Ismail Khan, the terrorists splitting into pairs of small kill teams।

The journey that followed across Mumbai - described in the Indian press - took the two men first by taxi to the CST railway station, where Kasab was chillingly photographed as he paused, amid the gunfire and grenades that killed as many as 50 people, in grey combat trousers, a dark blue T-shirt and wearing a rucksack with spare ammunition on one shoulder।

From the railway station Khan and Kasab moved on to the Cama and GT hospitals, firing as they went। According to the same sources, it was during their progress through Mumbai that the pair shot dead the Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare and another senior officer. Their killing spree was only halted when Khan was shot down in the Girgaum Chowpatty locality of south Mumbai, and when Kasab surrendered.

Now Kasab is talking, and what he has to say is likely to define the future relations of two nuclear-armed rivals - India and Pakistan। Yesterday a Pakistani official said it would divert troops to its border with India and away from fighting militants on the Afghan frontier, if tensions erupt in the wake of the attacks on Mumbai. That the tensions will increase in the coming days seems likely.

Already, if the accounts of his questioning are to be believed, Kasab has revealed that, like him, most of his fellow attackers hailed from Pakistan - although that has yet to be confirmed. He revealed that the group had been planning the attack for months. Some are thought to have taken jobs in the targeted hotels, others had checked in as guests a few days earlier, using their rooms to stockpile weapons. Kasab - from Faridkot in Pakistan - and eight others had visited Mumbai a few months earlier, posing as students and taking a room in the Colaba market area, which they used as a safe-house to store the supplies they would need for the attacks. According to police, Kasab told them that the main planner arrived in Mumbai a month ago to film potential targets to help train the gunmen. Once he was satisfied that they were ready, the boat team members were each issued with an AK-47 rifle, a pistol, 350 bullets and eight hand-grenades.
A recovered GPS device suggested they set out from the Pakistani port of Karachi in a larger boat - though such is the friction between the two countries that such reports have to be treated with caution - before overpowering the crew of another vessel and sailing to within four nautical miles of Mumbai। There, they transferred to speedboats and made for the shore. So began a night of terror.

Even as Kasab and Khan were attacking the CST station, another pair of gunmen hit the the Leopold Café, a popular haunt for backpackers। Witnesses described how the gunmen took weapons out of backpacks and hurled grenades, killing at least one person. More gunmen moved through the area in a hijacked police vehicle, firing indiscriminately.

At Nariman House, the attackers went for a Jewish centre run by Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, and his wife Rivka। The couple's son Moshe, two, was rescued by his nanny. They were the only survivors.

But the images of horror that will forever be associated with one of India's darkest days were reserved for elsewhere - the imposing Oberoi and Taj Mahal Palace hotels, frequented by Western business travellers and well-heeled Indians। Here it was the restaurants that took the brunt of the initial assault, but the terrorists quickly fanned out to round up more hostages. At the Taj, the first shots were fired near the swimming pool before the gunmen swarmed into the hotel.

It was in the Taj that a sinister new element to the attack emerged। Survivors said the gunmen were particularly interested in British and American guests, singling them out as targets and ignoring other nationalities. Guests scattered in panic as the carnage continued. 'There were people getting shot in the corridor. There was someone dead outside the bathroom,' said 28-year-old Australian former Neighbours actress Brooke Satchwell.

Bharat Tamore had reached the hotel only a few minutes earlier। Changing into his uniform ready for the night shift, he heard gunshots coming from the fashionable Shamiana restaurant above. 'I stepped out and saw staff and guests running. It was then I remembered those eight boys,' he said.

Paralysed by fear, he crouched with staff in the kitchen, listening to the crump of explosions and crackle of machine-gun fire until 4am, when they made a dash for freedom।

At the Oberoi, Madhu Kumar, 58, had sat down to a meal with her husband Ashok, 65, and two friends। Panic spread through the room as a gunman burst in, herding them up the stairs. 'He had a scarf like a bandana and a scarf on his mouth and he was carrying a machine gun,' she said. 'There was a stampede. We had heard a commotion and a lot of loud firing. Everybody got panicky. I saw a girl with a bleeding arm. She had been shot.'

She noticed that the gunman was quite fair-skinned and spoke in English - he was a Kashmiri, perhaps, she said। As they moved up the stairs, she heard a gunshot behind her. 'This man was shot by a terrorist behind us. The terrorist said "wait", and I heard the shot and he fell. They were just shooting people at random.'

Caught on the hop and hopelessly outgunned, police struggled to cope। The first team to respond consisted of just eight members of the Mumbai force, each armed with a revolver. It took until 2am for the first military personnel to arrive, a group of 40 Marine commandos summoned from their beds to go to the Taj. Even then, no one was able to give them any information about the layout of the hotel. They did not know the strength of their opponents or what weapons they possessed. Entering the hotel, they found about 15 bodies, but before they could do anything else the terrorists opened fire and hurled grenades. By the time the firing stopped, the gunmen had slipped away into the maze of corridors and passageways in the old building.

Now in the aftermath that has left almost 200 dead - perhaps more in the final counting - it is not simply the question of who sent Kasab and his fellow gunmen to Mumbai that is exercising a shocked India। After three days of combat in which a handful of highly trained and motivated gunmen held off against massively superior Indian forces before being at last overwhelmed, what India wants to know is how its security forces could have been caught so flat-footed yet again, when they should have been at the highest state of vigilance after a series of murderous attacks around the country this year.

How, too, some asked, had they failed so dramatically to bring the situation under control during the best part of three days?

Sitting in a side street listening to the sound of loud blasts and gunfire emanating from Nariman House, Rakash Bhaud, the local leader of the far-right Hindu party Shiv Sena, blamed the central government for the failures that, he said, had left them at the mercy of Pakistan-backed terrorists।

'There is a deep anger here against the government for not providing security for the common people,' he said। 'The extremists have taken advantage of this. We don't have the security to fight against this.'

If the attackers' intention was to stir up tensions between India and Pakistan - and by extension, Hindu and Muslim - they most certainly succeeded। Anti-Pakistan slogans were being chanted freely by the crowds who gathered to watch the storming of Nariman House.

As the firing died away yesterday morning, the work of getting the city back on its feet began. In the restaurant at the Oberoi hotel, staff were starting to sweep the broken glass away from the tables on which meals abandoned by the fleeing guests still lay. But it may take a lot longer to sweep away the memories of the events of last week and the old enmities it has stirred up.
For now, however, it is a moment for India to come to terms with what has happened। 'I had arranged to meet a friend in the Oberoi Trident lobby on Wednesday night,' said Malani Agarwal, 31, a radio presenter on Mumbai Radio. 'He said he was coming late, so I went upstairs to a lounge bar called the Dragon Fly which is a few doors away. Then we saw a lot of "fireworks" in the lobby. Ten minutes later we felt a tremor. That was the first grenade, then another one. People started getting texts about a gang war at Leopold's Café and then the Oberoi. The Dragon Café has bulletproof glass and you could see bullets lodged in the windows. That was really scary. We put the television onto the news and saw the Taj burning. The army coming. We all just felt numb. Too scared to move really. It was the worst night of my life. This will be a wake-up call.'
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