Sunil Chhetri disappointed with team selected for Asian Games, says 'things have gone awry'

Sunil Chhetri is not too happy with the Indian men’s football squad for the upcoming Asian Games 2023. A 22-member suad was announced in August that included some of the best players from India but a tussle between AIFF and ISL clubs over releasing the players has resulted in a revised 18-member squad that most include inexperienced players and Chhetri is the only big name in it. The conflict between AIFF and ISL clubs has risen due to the crammed Indian football calendar and as the Asian Games falls outside the FIFA window, the domestic clubs are now want to release their players. In this new list that has 18 players, Chhetri is the only one over the age of 24 and the India captain is not too pleased with how the situation has been handled. He suggested that all factions should come together to ensure that India send their best team to the competition. “Whatever complaints anyone might have, let’s keep differences aside for the time being,” Chhetri was quoted by TOI. “We can point fingers later. But for now, I think we should all come together and make sure the best team reaches China or we don’t go,” he added. The hastily put together new squad consists of players who have not played together in a team earlier. “If this is the final team, it will be difficult. If the same team from China (that took part in the U23 qualifiers, coached by Clifford Miranda) was going, I would have been relieved. Even though it’s the B team, they are together for so many days. The chances of them doing better is miles more,” Chhetri said. India’s first match against China is now just four days away and the squad assembled has not even managed a single training session. There are also several pending visa issues and hence, they could be forced to play without any practice. Chhetri questioned whether it would be too challenging to send the requested two players from each team. He also spoke about the lack of training opportunities for the Asian team and highlighted the insufficient time for team cohesion, training, set-pieces, and other preparations. Chhetri, however, made it clear that he was not playing any blame game but believed several things had gone awry and now, his primary concern was how to assemble the best possible team on the field.