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Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri will be bestowed with an honour as Football Delhi announced on Sunday that the governing body will celebrate the striker's birthday on August 3 as Delhi’s Football Day.
Football Delhi President Shaji Prabhakaran while elaborating the matter said, "We want to create a football ecosystem in Delhi, and also to honour Sunil Chhetri. He spent a large number of his formative years in the city, and this is a great way of thanking him for his achievements. He is the best footballer to have come out of this city."
Prabhakaran also felt that there is a need to bring the Delhi football crowd to the matches of local clubs. "Also, we want to create an ecosystem where the fans in the city connect with the sport. Whenever any La Liga or Premier League match is screened at parks, we see 10000-20000 fans in attendance. But this does not translate to the same when it comes to supporting the local clubs. We want to change that."
The Indian skipper has represented the country 97 times since 2005. He has scored 56 goals for the national team since then. He is the fulcrum of the Indian team and has been instrumental in guiding the nation to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
Chhetri who currently is based in Bengaluru and is leading the team in the ongoing ISL season, had spent his initial football days in Delhi. He then moved to Kolkata after signing for Mohun Bagan and the rest as they call is history.
This step taken by Football Delhi is one which should be given a lot of credit and as the legends of the game always need to be held in high esteem and the future generation should be made aware of their achievements so that they get inspired.
