The Indian women’s football team, currently preparing for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 qualifiers, had a special visitor in the form of Sunil Chhetri to boost their morale. Currently playing for the Indian men’s football team after reversing his decision to retire from international football, Sunil Chhetri gave a rousing speech to the Blue Tigresses. In the sattar-minute-esque speech, Chhetri urged the players to “go crazy” in their pursuit to keep playing football at the top level.
“Kal main athra saal ka tha (Yesterday, I was 18 years old!) Today, I’m 41! Your coach (Crispin Chhetri) and I were in same team once. The reason I am saying this is to tell you that time flies. Fast! If you really want it bad, take all the margins. There will be no difference between sleeping at 10 pm and sleeping at 10.45 pm in one night. But do this for a year, and you see the difference. If you eat a samosa one day, won’t make too much of a difference. But don’t eat it for one year, you see where you are! Please don’t waste it (your youth). You’re still young. Just go mad! Normal life jeene ke liye wakt milega (You’ll get plenty of time to live a normal life),” Sunil Chhetri told the Indian players.
“Yesterday I was 18. Today, I’m 41. Time flies.” 🥺
Words of wisdom for any young athlete from our Captain, Leader and Legend. ©️
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— FC (@bengalurufc)
Sunil Chhetri then opened up about his fears of retiring from the sport completely.
“Football choot jaayega (My football career will end) and I will not be a never be a professional player is the biggest sorrow of my life,” Sunil Chhetri told members of the Indian women’s team huddled around him in a circle. “Nothing scares me or makes me sadder than that thought. There will be a time, when I won’t be able to train, or compete, I can’t tackle or I can’t score! There’s just one more year left for that!”
The team then gave him an autographed jersey which made him grin from ear to ear.
We had a special visitor at the 🐯 camp in Bengaluru 🤩 🙌
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— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball)
“You know in all these years of playing for India, I have never had a jersey autographed by the rest of the Indian team. I’ll frame this one!” he told the players.
The Indian women’s football team have been training at the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence in Bengaluru since the start of the month to compete in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 qualifiers in Chiang Mai, Thailand, from June 23 to July 5. India have been drawn in Group B, where they will face hosts Thailand, Mongolia, Timor Leste, and Iraq.
