Team India get their AFC Asian Cup 2024 campaign underway against heavyweight Australia on the 13th of January before going on to take on Uzbekistan and Syria eventually in their Group B encounters, and skipper Sunil Chhetri opined that the team’s performance against the sides will serve as a marker for how far the Blue Tigers have come in recent years.
“It’s a massive tournament for us, purely because we get to rub shoulders with the best in Asia. Teams like Australia and Uzbekistan are probably of the World Cup level, so you can test yourself against them,” Chhetri said.
“What is sure is that we have improved in the last seven to eight years. But then you play them and you see how far you are, and how the tempo of the game is. It’s just important to play your best, and generally, it’s a good marker for the nation to test where we are.”
Chhetri was also a part of the team that went down 0-4 to Australia in the group stage of the 2011 edition but expressed that the Blue Tigers are better prepared to take on the tough Aussie challenge this time around.
“We did not have much knowledge of the Australian team back then. Not when compared to the minute details we have now. We’ve watched their friendlies against Palestine and Bahrain, we know which leagues their players are in, and individual clips on them,” said the striker.
“With this familiarity, the fear factor goes out. I must admit, of course, that they are extremely good. They’re a couple of levels above than what we play in the ISL, but at least we know what we’re up against.”
Chhetri, who has 145 caps for India since making his debut in 2005, said that the team will take it one game at a time and hope to dig out the best result possible.
“We will take it one game at a time and try to give a good account of ourselves. We will prepare as much as possible, gather as much knowledge as we possibly can, and then act according to that,” he said.
Chhetri, who has 93 goals to his name in international colours so far, became a father last year and said that welcoming his first child had an impact on him as a person.
“I’m so much happier and calmer now. It’s like I’ve had a different responsibility and purpose ever since I became a father, it’s something that I can’t explain,” Chhetri said.
“I had a chat with my wife about the Asian Cup and the World Cup Qualifiers against Afghanistan later, and it seemed to her that I was taking too much pressure with these matches.
“She told me to just go out there and enjoy. That’s the way I want to play, whatever time I have left with the national team,” the 39-year-old star concluded.
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