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With his 83rd-minute penalty against Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday, India captain Sunil Chhetri climbed up to the fifth spot in the men's all-time top goalscorer tally in international football, surpassing Hungarian enigma Ferenc Puskas.
The 38-year-old striker pushed his goalscoring tally to 85 during the final Hero Tri-Nation friendly at the Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal on Tuesday, March 28. After winger Naorem Mahesh Singh was brought down by an opposition defender, Chhetri stepped up to convert the resulting spot-kick.
The veteran marksman nonchalantly tucked the ball into the bottom left corner past the opposition keeper. Chhetri now has a tally of 85 goals from his 133 appearances for the Indian national team. Meanwhile, the man whom he just overtook, Puskas, boasts a blistering record of 84 goals from 85 matches while playing his trade for the mighty Hungarian side of the 1950s.
Next on Chhetri's radar is Mokhtar Dahari of Malaysia, who has 89 international goals. With ample matches coming up in the next 12 months for the Blue Tigers and Sunil not showing any signs of slowing down, Dahari's numbers might be surpassed in a jiffy.
Meanwhile, Indian fans were having a field day on social media after the talismanic forward scored another record-breaking goal. Many quipped that Chhetri was better than Puskas.
Here are the other tweets after Sunil Chhetri surpassed Ferenc Puskas' record:
Sunil Chhetri reimagining his game to suit the current Indian squad
The 38-year-old striker was once the central-most figure in India's attacking lineup. It would be hard to argue that he still isn't. However, a lot of young talents have been finding their feet in the national colors and their explosiveness brings a different flavor to the Blue Tigers' game.
Still, Sunil Chhetri is one of the most relentless pressers on the team, however, he has acclimatized himself to stay away from dropping too deep. He now focuses more on pressing the centre-backs and when his team is in possession, Chhetri knows it's time to get into the box. The Bengaluru FC star knows that at this point, he can let the wingers or the likes of Anirudh Thapa and Brandon Fernandes in the midfield to focus on the creative part.
The clinical nature of his game will be pivotal for India as they're months away from the all-important AFC Asian Cup.
