India play a friendly against Maldives on March 19, in preparation for Asian Cup qualifier against Bangladesh on March 25
\n New Delhi
\nIndian football legend Sunil Chhetri will return to the national team aged 40 in an unexpected reversal of his decision to hang up his boots last year.
\nThe former captain, the fourth-highest men\u2019s international goalscorer of all time, played his last match for India in June 2024 in a World Cup qualifier.
\nChhetri said last year that \u201cinstinct\u201d told him the match against Kuwait should be his last and he bowed out in front of nearly 59,000 fans in Kolkata.
\nBut on Thursday, India head coach Manolo Marquez announced the return of India\u2019s most-capped player for the March international window.
\nIndia are out of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup and are now targeting the Asian Cup in 2027.
\n\u201cThe qualification for the Asian Cup is very crucial for us. Given the importance of the tournament and the matches ahead, I discussed with Sunil Chhetri about making a comeback to strengthen the national team,\u201d Marquez said in a statement from the All India Football Federation.
\n\u201cHe agreed, and so we have included him in the squad.\u201d
\nIndia play a friendly against Maldives on March 19, in preparation for an Asian Cup qualifier against Bangladesh on March 25.
\nFootball has struggled to find its feet among the 1.4 billion people of India, where the sport is dwarfed by the nation\u2019s longstanding cricket obsession.
\nFormer Fifa president Sepp Blatter once called India a \u201csleeping giant\u201d of football.
\nChhetri is a sporting icon in cricket-mad India.
\nThe diminutive striker, who is 1.7 metres (5ft 7in) tall, made his debut against fierce rivals Pakistan in 2005 and scored India\u2019s only goal.
\nChhetri had two brief but unsuccessful spells in Portugal and the United States, but has spent most of his career in India.
\nIn 2009 he was offered a contract by London club Queens Park Rangers, in England\u2019s second tier, but he could not get a work permit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
India play a friendly against Maldives on March 19, in preparation for Asian Cup qualifier against Bangladesh on March 25 New Delhi Indian football legend Sunil Chhetri will return to the national team aged 40 in an unexpected reversal of his decision to hang up his boots last year. The former captain, the fourth-highest men\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465889,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-465874","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n