It is now known that Sunil Chhetri, the India national football team captain, and his wife are awaiting the birth of their first child. We have seen pictures of Chhetri performing rituals at home with Sonam, his wife, and there have been media reports quoting him as saying that he would ask Igor Stimac, the India coach, for a break during the King’s Cup. Quite understandably, Chhetri wants to be with his wife before he travels to Hangzhou for the Asian Games.
Revsportz can confirm that Stimac is very much on the same page as his captain. Speaking to Boria Majumdar from Croatia, Stimac confirmed as much. “There is no strong nation without strong families, and our skipper is just about to witness his first baby arriving in this world,” he said. “I am totally with him on this, and wish him all the very best.”
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When asked if he was okay with Chhetri missing the King’s Cup in Thailand, Stimac said: “These are friendly games, so I don’t see any reason not to let our skipper stay near his wife. We will use this opportunity to see a few players in the centre-forward position. He can join us on September 13 for the Asian Games.”
Stimac has already informed Chhetri of this, and the mini-break for the captain is now confirmed.
Chhetri informed his fans that the couple were expecting their first child in a heart-warming gesture after scoring a goal against Vanuatu in an Inter-continental Cup game. “It was a hard call when to announce to the world,” he had told RevSportz in an interview soon afterwards. “My wife and I have been thinking about it and we are one of those couples who have received a lot of love and affection from people across the country. So we wanted to tell them and also were trying to get the timing right. We thought a lot on how to give the good news to everyone and then eventually went the very footballer way. My wife said to me that as a footballer, I should score a goal and then announce it to the world. I am glad I did not have to make her wait. The day she said it, I scored that very day against Vanuatu in the 18th minute. I ended up doing what I know as a footballer!”
On behalf of every Indian football fan, here’s wishing Sunil and Sonam all the very best in the days ahead.
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