{"id":2659,"date":"2016-05-16T05:22:47","date_gmt":"2016-05-15T23:52:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2659"},"modified":"2026-07-17T20:08:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T14:38:56","slug":"sunil-chhetri-football-mumbai-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2659","title":{"rendered":"Sunil Chhetri&#8217;s Game Plan: How Mumbai Fell for Football"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"container page-content\"><p><span class=\"dropcap\">A<\/span><\/p><\/div><p>round 10 pm last night, two minutes into injury time \u2013 just when the inevitability of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/humour\/india-immigration-travel-abroad\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> win was threatening to overpower the continued mindfulness of the packed stadium \u2013 came <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/satire\/sunil-chhetri-indian-football-fans\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sunil Chhetri\u2019s<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> brace. The skipper, after being passed the ball by Balwant Singh, ran clear and nimbly chipped the Kenyan keeper. His legs revelled in their youthful fervour as the ball unflinchingly hit the goal. <\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India were now 3-0. <\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Almost instinctively, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/humour\/mumbai-india-monsoons-weather-in-mumbai-rains\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">rains <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">announced their premature arrival, as did the thunderous chants from every corner of the Mumbai <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/pov\/u17-world-cup-football-soccer-india\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Football<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Arena, the venue for the pivotal India vs Kenya match. Unperturbed, Chhetri ran past the fence and toward the animated crowd that was yelling, clapping, waving, and smiling in unscripted unison. To celebrate. He looked us in the eye, spread his arms open \u00e0 la <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/series\/fitoor-mishra\/happy-birthday-shahrukh-khan-srk-52nd-birthday-karan-johar-suhana-khan-mannat\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shah Rukh Khan<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, as if to say, \u201cLook, I did this for you. I kept my promise.\u201d Looking back at Chhetri, it was impossible to not remember the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chetrisunil11\/status\/1002892448513679361\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">viral video<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> where he pleaded with Mumbaikars to come watch the Indian national team play. \u201cTo everyone who is not a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/pov\/u17-world-cup-football-soccer-india\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">football fan<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, please come and watch us for two reasons. No. 1 \u2013 it\u2019s the best game in the world and No. 2 \u2013 we play for our country. We will make sure that once you come to watch us, you will not return the same person back home.\u201d <\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The message was clear: If Chhetri\u2019s first goal was for the game, then his second one was for every <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/humour\/mumbaiyya-hindi-north-india-delhi\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mumbaikar<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> who heeded his earnest call and arrived in hordes to make the memory of his 100th match indelible. <\/span>\n\n<blockquote class=\"quote--center\"><p>Sunil Chhetri forced us to set aside our cynicism for a change, and invest in the other boys in blue.<\/p><\/blockquote> \n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On their part, the crowd accepted this offering and retaliated by yelling their hearts out. Screams of \u201cSunil Chettri! Sunil Chhetri!\u201d reverberated from the stands and were accompanied by the Vikings Clap, overpowering the thunder and lightning engulfing the rest of the city. My neighbour in the overpopulated general stand, a 40-year-old homemaker, matched the enthusiasm of her 10-year-old sons by jumping up and down and yelling the skipper\u2019s name.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another youngster in the front egged on the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/people\/the-seat-mafia-of-mumbai-locals\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">crowds<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to join the festivities by providing the oft-relied chant-starter, \u201cJeetega bhai jeetega\u2026\u201d These words, thoughts, screams, and sounds soon fused into a crowdsourced background score that would come to define this night and its electric atmosphere for weeks to come. If the celebration for Chhetri\u2019s first goal was muted, then the revelry for the second one was unprecedented.<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Initially, the match, marred by the rain and waterlogged ground replete with puddles was coloured by a goalless first half. That changed in the 68th minute when Chhetri coolly converted a penalty kick to notch up his 60th international goal, causing several ripples: It put India ahead in the game. It commemorated his 100th cap. It spoke of Chhetri\u2019s inimitable form. It continued his record of scoring against 17 countries when facing them for the first time. But, most importantly, it cemented Chhetri\u2019s place among the greats \u2013 he\u2019s now third on the list of most international goals scored by active players, trailing <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/sports\/ronaldo-messi-fifa-ballon-dor-player-of-the-year\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cristiano Ronaldo<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (81) and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/pov\/why-ronaldo-should-follow-messi-into-retirement\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lionel Messi <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(64).<\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet it was Chettri\u2019s 61st goal that most of us who witnessed last night\u2019s game won\u2019t be able to forget. For it was less goal and more gesture; a brief, sharp rallying call for continued support. It gave the crowds a new lease on life in the dying minutes, just like how <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/doodle\/sunil-chhetri-football-india\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chettri\u2019s<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> impassioned plea a day earlier, guaranteed sold-out tickets in less than 24 hours.<\/span>\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1528210235.jpg\" alt=\"Sunil Chhetri\" width=\"611\" height=\"407\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-35215\" \/>\n<figcaption>\n<p>If nothing else, Chhetri taught Mumbai that any sport is a two-way game: It thrives on its determined players as much as on its spirited supporters. <\/p>\n<p>Image credit: Twitter<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After Chettri\u2019s second goal and the ensuing celebrations, it was hard to not be moved; to not shout in support of Chettri\u2019s men until you were hoarse, in the company of 8,890 spectators, including stalwarts like Bhaichung Bhutia and IM Vijayan. What Chettri\u2019s viral video achieved for football, his goal did for the apathy of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/social-commentary\/mumbai-bombay-india-shivaji-maharaj-shiv-sena-thane-haji-ali-mughal-empire-tom-hanks-kala-ghoda\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mumbai<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It forced us to brave the rains, traffic jams, and overcrowded metros to show up in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/humour\/indian-american-andheri-east-desi-fourth-of-july\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Andheri<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It forced us to set aside our cynicism for a change, and invest in the other boys in blue. <\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before yesterday, it wouldn\u2019t have been wrong to write off the near-empty stands in the previous match between India and Taipei down to the fact that Mumbai isn\u2019t inherently a city that loved football. That the crown rested with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/gender\/bangalore-new-year-molestation-bengaluru-jasmeen-patheja-blank-noise\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bengaluru<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/people\/bengalis-nyaka-west-bengal-nyakami-moon-moon-sen-kolkata\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kolkata<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or even the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/social-commentary\/northeast-discrimination-assam-india\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">North East<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. But after last night, its crowds are proof that a city\u2019s sporting interest should be gauged only by the choices they make. <\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The enormity of this situation was to hit us a little after full-time, when adjudged the winners, Chhetri and his men took a victory lap all across the field. Proudly led by the skipper, the players walked, waving, smiling, and riling the crowd up to join their hands together for the Vikings Clap. The skipper on the other hand, stood in front of every stand with folded hands \u2013 in gratitude, happiness, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/politics\/liberal-optimists-karnataka-election\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">optimism<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span>\n\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If nothing else, Chhetri taught Mumbai that any sport is a two-way game: It thrives on its determined players as much as on its spirited supporters. Irrespective of what coach <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/football\/indian-football-team-shouldn-t-be-begging-people-to-come-watch-them-play\/story-PGWseA8SEZ6r1ve8ntEhZL.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stephen Constantine<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> believes, Chhetri ensured that it didn\u2019t matter whether you were a fan of football or not. But after last night, you certainly became a supporter. For Chhetri managed the unthinkable \u2013 wake up the residents of the city that never sleeps.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last night, Sunil Chhetri and his men who won 3-0, forced Mumbai to keep aside its cynicism and invest in the other boys in blue. It taught Mumbaikars that any sport is a two-way game: It thrives on its determined players as much as on its spirited supporters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":2662,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[394],"tags":[5384,5385,396,5386,5387,5388,80,5389,5390,5391,5392],"class_list":["post-2659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-andheri-sports-complex","tag-bhaichung-bhutia","tag-football","tag-football-fans","tag-india-vs-kenya","tag-indian-national-football-team","tag-mumbai","tag-mumbai-football-arena","tag-stephen-constantine","tag-sunil-chhetri","tag-vikings-clap"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sunil Chhetri&#039;s Game Plan: How Mumbai Fell for Football<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last night, Sunil Chhetri and his men who won 3-0, forced Mumbai to keep aside its cynicism and invest in the other boys in blue. 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