Ahead of India's international friendly against Nepal on June 6 and their AFC Asian Cup qualifying match against Kyrgyzstan on June 13, Sunil Chhetri has exhorted his team mates to work harder to maintain their form as a unit, one that has seen India record a win in 11 of their last 13 games, and climb to a two-decade high of 100 on the FIFA rankings.
"We have improved in terms of our level, but because we are India and we have to go a long way, everything looks small," Chhetri told ESPN. "Enjoy it, but at the same time, put your head down and keep working hard, because no matter how much we jump, in terms of our level, it is always going to be short. We are competing with the best in Asia right now, forget about the world."
India's ranking has placed them 11th among nations in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) -- ahead even of 2007 Asian champions Iraq, who are 120th at the moment -- and Chhetri believes that India need to put in all their energies into getting themselves into the top eight. "Let's suppose the first tier has eight teams, and the second too has eight teams, we are somewhere between the second to third tier. We've got to get into the second tier," said Chhetri. "We need to get in there and stick there, and aspire to go to the first tier. That's the dream right now, and that's the place where we want to be."
National team coach Stephen Constantine, who has been in charge in his second stint with India since 2015, has given first international caps to more than 30 players in this tenure, and Chhetri felt this was something Constantine had to do considering where Indian football was at the time he came in. "I had a talk with him and when he came in, his plan was to identify his first 14," said Chhetri. "In that process, he had to pick a lot of players so that he can have a look at each of them. He still does it, but it is not his motto to come and give debuts. The good thing that happened is we have a bigger pool now to choose from."
Commending some of the younger players who have cemented their place in the Indian team since, Chhetri said, "I am a firm believer that once you come into the first eleven, take your place. Do not let the other one take yours, because (then) he has to work that much harder to take yours. So the level just improves."
"The best examples I can give you right now are [goalkeeper] Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, [striker] Jeje Lalpekhlua and [defender] Sandesh Jhingan. I hope I can see them continuing for another 15 years and doing great things for the country."
Chhetri's full interview will be published on ESPN on June 1.