The national side needs a goal scorer and there is no better player in the country to do the job than Sunil Chhetri, the present coach of the senior Indian men’s football team, Manolo Marquez, said about his decision to coax the iconic striker out of retirement.
“At this moment he is the best Indian striker. I think there is no doubt about this,” Manolo said, spelling out the reason as to why he reached out to Chhetri to convince him to come out of retirement.
“Sunil is the top goal scorer among the Indian players in ISL (12 goals) and Brison (Fernandes) is second highest scorer (7). We need players who can score goals, my thinking is clear about this,” Manolo said after
FC Goa, the club team he helms, lost the final league match of the ISL against Mohun Bagan Super Giant.
Manolo, who in an unprecedented move, took charge of the Indian team in July last year while remaining coach of FC Goa, has seen the Indian side struggle for goals in the few international matches it played under him.
“This is the reason that I spoke with him (Sunil) personally. Obviously because it is a difficult situation for the Indian team,” Manolo said.
“In my four games with the national team we scored just two goals, one from open play and the other one from a set-piece. We need to score more goals. This is the national team and we need immediate results,” Manolo said about his decision as India prepared for the final round qualifiers of Asian Cup 2027.
India plays its first match against Bangladesh at Shillong on March 25.
Published – March 09, 2025 10:20 pm IST