Kolkata, Jun 3 (PTI) Sunil Chhetri’s imminent retirement will create a big void in Indian football but national team defender Subhasish Bose is confident that someone will take his coveted No 9 spot in the side.
Indian talisman skipper Chhetri will play his last match in the national jersey in the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Kuwait on June 9.
Chhetri will retire as the all time highest Indian goalscorer with 94 to his name which is also the third among the active international scorers, trailing world superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
“His retirement will create a big gap but with time when someone goes, another comes. It will happen with the national team as well,” Bose said in a media interaction at the Salt Lake Stadium here.
“We have many players with leadership qualities, doing captaincy at the club level and the senior players will have to step up.” “We have many young players. We have experienced players like Lallianzuala Chhangte, Manvir Singh and Rahim Ali in the forward line.
“They will need to improve themselves and look to fill that spot. I’m pretty sure that these players will do much better if they get enough game-time as a striker,” he said on the potential No 9 for India in future.
Bose recently led Mohun Bagan to win their maiden League Winners Shield in the ISL.
Asked whether he’s ready for the captaincy challenge, he said: “On the field, every player needs to take responsibility and try to play with leadership. Whenever I get a chance in any position to help the team and try to lead them, I’ll give my best so that the team will perform to the best.
“I’ve learned a lot from Sunil bhai and the other senior players on how to lead a team, so I’ll try to replicate that so the team can perform even better going forward.
But the focus at the moment is on the Kuwait match. India who are second behind Qatar in the standings have a chance to qualify for their maiden third round and qualify for the Asian Cup.
“I feel this match is the most important one for us as we could create history by getting into the third round of the qualifiers.
“The players are even more motivated knowing that Sunil Chhetri will play the final match and we all want his last match to be memorable.
On their preparation, he said: “We’ve gotten to know ourselves better now and I think we’ll be able to play better football in front of our crowd.
“The Kolkata crowd is amazing, that is the best crowd that I feel can motivate us for 90 minutes and energise us to ensure that we can give our best for 90 minutes and win the match,” he signed off.
Source: PTI News
