Sunil Chhetri is irreplaceable, says Igor Stimac

New Delhi Indian football team coach Igor Stimac feels that talismanic captain Sunil Chhetri is playing like a 29yearold and remains irreplaceable for the next few years The 35yearold Chhetri has been in prolific form in recent years but since netting Indias lone goal in the 12 loss to Oman in September he has not found the target in the last three matches of the 2022 World Cup qualifying campaignAsked if he has found any player in India who can replace Chhetri in the future Stimac said I dont know why people mention about replacing Sunil he is not going anywhere He is fit and doing his best He is very valuable to us His body is like a 29yearoldAs long as he is training like he is doing right now and giving his best for the national team he will be with us I can assure you that He Sunil had some great chances there was one against Afghanistan which normally Sunil scores nine out of 10 times It did not happen that day but that does not mean that something has changed in his game It happens in football the Croatian said on the sidelines of the launch of the 13th ILeague hereChhetri is currently the second highest international goal scorers among active players only behind Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo He is the mostcapped player and also the alltime top scorer for the Indian national team with 72 goals in 115 appearancesStimac said the current team also has players who can score goals and he was hopeful of them stepping up and getting the job done for India But at the same time I will have chance to find out a few more players like Sunil Chhetri I hope that once Jobby Justin starts playing games he will start scoring goals the head coach said I hope a few other players like Seiminlen Doungel from FC Goa will start playing as central forward and Manvir Singh start scoring goals We have some options added StimacDoungel scored an injurytime goal in Indias 11 draw against Afghanistan in Dushanbe Tajikistan earlier this month The Indian team is virtually out of contention for a 2022 World Cup third round spot after losing 01 to Oman on TuesdayNew Delhi Indian football team coach Igor Stimac feels that talismanic captain Sunil Chhetri is playing like a 29yearold and remains irreplaceable for the next few years The 35yearold Chhetri has been in prolific form in recent years but since netting Indias lone goal in the 12 loss to Oman in September he has not found the target in the last three matches of the 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign Asked if he has found any player in India who can replace Chhetri in the future Stimac said I dont know why people mention about replacing Sunil he is not going anywhere He is fit and doing his best He is very valuable to us His body is like a 29yearold As long as he is training like he is doing right now and giving his best for the national team he will be with us I can assure you that He Sunil had some great chances there was one against Afghanistan which normally Sunil scores nine out of 10 times It did not happen that day but that does not mean that something has changed in his game It happens in football the Croatian said on the sidelines of the launch of the 13th ILeague here Chhetri is currently the second highest international goal scorers among active players only behind Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo He is the mostcapped player and also the alltime top scorer for the Indian national team with 72 goals in 115 appearances Stimac said the current team also has players who can score goals and he was hopeful of them stepping up and getting the job done for India But at the same time I will have chance to find out a few more players like Sunil Chhetri I hope that once Jobby Justin starts playing games he will start scoring goals the head coach said I hope a few other players like Seiminlen Doungel from FC Goa will start playing as central forward and Manvir Singh start scoring goals We have some options added Stimac Doungel scored an injurytime goal in Indias 11 draw against Afghanistan in Dushanbe Tajikistan earlier this month The Indian team is virtually out of contention for a 2022 World Cup third round spot after losing 01 to Oman on Tuesday