The Sunil Chhetri press conference: A moment when time stood still and emotions ran high

A little over 24 hours from now Sunil Chhetri will become a former Indian footballer and while that will be a big loss for Indian football, the talismanic striker has never been someone to talk about himself. So when he turned up for the pre-match press conference on the eve of India’s FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Kuwait in Kolkata, Chhetri was quick to request that the questions only be about the upcoming match and not his retirement.

“Good afternoon everyone. I think most of us met already 20 days back, and we’ve spoken about my last game, that’s done. We are here only and only to speak about Kuwait’s match against India,” Chhetri said in his opening comments.

This was something similar to what he had done in March, in a packed media room in Guwahati, before the Afghanistan game which was his record 150th for India . When all the journalists in the room were looking forward to talking about the all-time record that was up for grabs, Chhetri deflected the attention to India’s crucial game with the instruction that he would not entertain a single question on his 150th match.

Read: With Sunil Chhetri around, there was always hope

But journalists are stubborn you know, especially football journalists. There’s no glamour in Indian football. Most follow it because it’s their passion and you can’t keep such people hushed for too long.

Every second or third question in the press conference was to Chhetri and about his impending retirement which he ignored in his typical no-nonsense style. The Indian football team captain held a virtual media roundtable last month when he spoke from his heart and was not interested in going into the details anymore.

Going into the details would be painful.

“Inside me, I’m fighting a small battle. Please do not make it worse by asking me again and again how you are feeling because I don’t want to address it. The only thing that I want to speak about here is us against Korea,” an emotional Chhetri retorted after being pressed.

India vs Kuwait: How Blue Tigers can book historic third round spot

At other times, he kept it cheeky. When asked if he would reverse his decision if India make history by reaching the third round of the qualifiers, Chhetri’s response made the whole room laugh.

“No sir, suits are made and I am going to watch the boys play. I have thought about it a lot. I had a great ride all this 19 years. I will go as a fan and support the team wherever the team goes,” he replied.

But it doesn’t matter how reluctant he was, the magnitude of the occasion was humungous and even if he didn’t want to talk about his retirement, he had to.

He had to reflect deeply when a journalist was reduced to tears while asking Chhetri about his retirement.

“Maybe you are mentally very strong, or you have a strong personality. But it’s not only an emotional moment for you but also for Indian journalism. Because from the day after tomorrow, we will not see you on that chair. Is it really so easy for you to digest this news?” a veteran Kolkata scribe asked.

And when the former Mohun Bagan and East Bengal player was forced to look back at his career, the recall was so moving that you felt his 19-year national team career flash in front of you during those moments.

“I didn’t think it like that. I’ve been here many, many, many times. And I’ve been between you guys many times. Some of the faces that I see, I’ve seen for 20 years. And it’s not a joke, I’m highly grateful. But it’s time. This is the right setup. It’s one of the biggest games that I am going to play, a match against Kuwait. We win it, we go to the third round where we’ve never been,” Chhetri said.

“There couldn’t be a better game for me to call it my last. I have a great ride. I’m in peace from the inside. I’ve given whatever I had. I played worse sometimes. I played good, but I just had a great ride.”

Read: Chhetri’s madness to push his limits helped him play for 19 years, says Gouramangi

Even while musing, he didn’t forget to stress the importance of the match against Kuwait.

“I just want to say, Kuwait and India in the second round of qualifiers, and this is what we get (full room of journalists),” he continued.

“Just imagine the third round, we’re playing against Japan. We win it. Just imagine the third round playing in Australia. Just imagine what the whole room is going to be. And that is why the win is important. That’s why we want everyone together. We probably will reach there.

“We probably might not. But the effort has to come from every one of us so that we can reach there.”

That’s almost everything that he spoke about his upcoming retirement and you bet everyone who came to the Salt Lake Stadium to hear him speak possibly for one last time in the Indian team press conference, had their money’s worth.