MALE, MALDIVES: It’s been 13 years since Sunil Chhetri first appeared for India in a SAFF Championship match. Since then, he has been part of the Blue Tigers in four editions, with the forthcoming Championship (set to kick-off tomorrow October 1 – India begin their campaign on October 4) being his fifth one. In a candid chat, Sunil takes a walk down memory lane and picks up his favourites from editions of the Championship that he has been a part of. EXCERPTS:

Which has been your favourite SAFF Championship so far?

I will pick the one which we won in Kerala in the 2015-16 edition. The rivalry that we had with Afghanistan in the final, and the build-up to it was simply majestic. It is also because we had a lot of youngsters in the squad, and won it with just 19 players after Robin Singh got injured in the first match itself. Over 40,000 people turned up to cheer for us in the final. That will always stay with me.

Which has been your favourite goal from all the editions in which you have played so far?

Jeje’s (Lalpekhlua) goal in the final against Afghanistan in 2015-16 in Thiruvananthapuram will always be my favourite. It was an extremely tough match, and we were 0-1 down despite having some good chances. The goal was extremely significant, and the manner the superstar flicked it in was sublime. Most importantly, it came at the right moment. If we hadn’t scored then, maybe we would have panicked and the result could have been different. We eventually went on to win 2-1.

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