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Current Indian football team and Bengaluru FC skipper Sunil Chhetri reveals that he was demoted to the 'B' team after a week of training with the first-team of Sporting Lisbon in 2012.
The forward played for Indian giants Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, before his second foreign stint happened with the Portuguese heavyweights. The 35-year-old, earlier, made just one appearance for the United States club Kansas in 2010, before moving back to India in the hopes of reviving his career.
His second spell away from the subcontinent proved to be a disaster once again. The then 26-year-old signed a three-year deal with the Portuguese side Sporting CP, but he never fulfilled his expectations.
"After one week, the head coach said: ‘you are not good enough, get lost to B team’. He was right,” Chhetri was quoted as saying by the Indian Super League’s official website via Times of India.
“The pace in Sporting Lisbon A team was too fast for me [compared to] what I was used to while playing in the Indian leagues.”
The striker was provided with a brief spell with the 'B' team to prove himself, but Chhetri failed to capitalise on the opportunity. He failed to break the duck in the five games he appeared in during his nine-month spell. After some time, Chhetri revealed his ambition to leave the club, and was subsequently released by Sporting.
He added: “I gave a shot for nine months, played five games, scoring zero goals. There was a 4 or 5 million release clause. I was to be there for three years but I told the coach about wanting to return to India as nobody was going to pay that amount. I requested them to release me. They were really nice.”
The current Bengaluru FC forward earlier played for Kansas City Wizards, where he struggled for game time. He failed to make any Major League Soccer (MLS) appearance for the club, and returned to the subcontinent within a year.
Chhetri said: “I played 6-7 friendly games, scored two hat-tricks and a brace, and I thought ‘I am going to start’. But we used to play 4-2-3-1 with a lone striker. [Kei] Kamara used to play. He is a big African lad, and he was always chosen ahead of me. So, I did not get the chance in the first 4-5 games. I was very sad. I was not used to sitting on the bench.”
“Then I had a lovely pre-season where I scored 14 goals in 7 games. I thought I was going to start. But it did not happen for five games, and I just started deteriorating. It was more mental than physical.”
Sunil Chhetri has played for two teams since his arrival from Portugal. He wore the colours of Mumbai City FC, and Bengaluru FC, where he has six trophies to his name.
