Plaudits have been pouring in for Indian national football team captain Sunil Chhetri ever since he scored in extra time to ensure India won the 2016 SAFF Suzuki Cup. His 50th goal for the national side saw India edge out higher-ranked Afghanistan 2-1 in the final at Thiruvananthapuram. One famous personality who praised Chhetri for his achievements was famous cricketer, Virat Kohli.
Indian cricket team Test captain Virat Kohli is well known for his love for football. He supports the 10 times UEFA Champions League winners, Real Madrid, while he co-owns Indian Super League side FC Goa, who reached the final of the second season of the cash-rich football league. He took to Twitter to congratulate the national team for winning their 7th SAFF Cup and also called Chhetri’s winner “mind-blowing”.
On his part, Sunil Chhetri thanked Kohli for the praise and joked that the cricket team will not need ‘extra time’ to win in Australia.
Here is the conversation in full:
The final was a tight affair with the teams deadlocked at 0-0 at half time. It was the 69th minute when the match saw the first goal when Zubayr Amiri put the defending champions ahead. However, Afghanistan’s lead lasted just 3 minutes as Jeje Lalpekhlua equalised to send the match into extra time.
With penalties looming large, Sunil Chhetri popped up to score, what turned out to be the winner. With this goal, Chhetri completed half a century of goals for the national side, extending his lead at the top of the list for highest goalscorers for India.
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