"A small part of me...": Sunil Chhetri on whether he wants his son to play football

New Delhi [India], December 8 : A "small part" of Indian football legend Sunil Chhetri wants his son Dhruv to take up the sport even if he does not want to follow in his footsteps professionally
Sports remains the "most holistic teacher in the world," said Chhetri in an freewheeling interview with ANI in which the icon revealed how his childhood was spent watching legendary sportspersons spanning tennis, cricket and football. Tennis greats Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, football stars Ronaldo Baichung Bhutia and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar were among favourites among his family members, said the former Indian captain.
In August 2023 Chhetri and his wife Sonam Bhattacherjee welcomed their first child, Dhruv.
"Oh, I cannot say that on camera. My wife will kill me. A very small part of me, but a very strong part of me wants him to play football," Chhetri said
Asked whether he will take his son to the field with him, the football icon exclaimed, "Oh, you bet. But I will not force him. Because my parents never forced me. But if there is any chance that he wants to play, I will be there, man. I will be there. I think even if he does not want to be a footballer professionally."
The footballer said that even if he was blessed with a daughter his emotions about her taking up the sport would remain unchanged.
"I do not think, and I am a very naive person, my knowledge is only about sports, so please do not take me seriously. I do not think there is anything that teaches a kid more than sports. I think it is the most holistic teacher in the world. When it comes to thinking about science, technology or other aspects, music or whatever, for me, sports teaches you the most in life. So I want my kids to play sports," he added.
Growing up, Chhetri said he was surrounded by family who were huge fans of football legends IM Vijayan, Bhaichung Bhutia and cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar. However, for him his first idol was his father, who was in the army.
"The first one (idol) was my father because I said he was doing all the right things. And I really wanted to be like my father. I used to wear those army uniforms, DMS boots and I wanted to be like him. I used to polish his shoes every day and I thought, one day man, one day I want to wear those, the 'fauji' (soldier) uniform, you know. Then, in my household we were huge fans of IIM Vijayan, Baichung bhai and Sachin Tendulkar. The whole country was," he said in the interview with ANI.
"And then we started getting a little bit more footage, the cable TV came in and all stuff. I used to watch a lot of Ronaldo, the R9 phenomenon. I used to watch Thierry Henry. Then me and my mom used to watch a lot of tennis. Steffi Graf was huge in my house. My mom used to love her a lot. The Monica Seles and Steffi Graf fight was huge. We came to Sampras and the young Federer. Yeah. So we used to watch that a lot. So what I realized was I loved... I loved... watching different sporting personalities, majorly sporting personalities and taking something or the other from them. This is what I liked and still I am the same. I consume a lot of sports," he added.
Apart from sports, Chhetri recalled that he and his family were fans of legendary actors Mithun Chakraborty and Govinda.
"We used to watch on Fridays, there were movies coming on DD2 (Doordarshan). The majority of them were of Mr Bachchan (Amitabh Bachchan), Mithunda and Govinda. I got a TV when I was in class 3-4. We were huge fans of Govinda and Mithunda," he said.
Chhetri kicked off his professional football journey at Mohun Bagan in 2002. Chhetri helped India win the 2007, 2009, and 2012 Nehru Cup, as well as the 2011, 2015, 2021 and 2023 SAFF Championship. He also led India to victory in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, which helped India qualify for its first AFC Asian Cup in 27 years.
Chhetri received the Arjuna Award in 2011, and the Padma Shri in 2019. In 2021, he became the first footballer to get the Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honour.
In a career that spanned over 19 years, the Arjuna Award winner has 94 goals in 150 matches on the international stage. Interestingly, Indian football talisman Sunil Chhetri is fourth overall in the all-time international goal scorers' list. Chhetri played a major role in India's footballing fortunes in the last decade, earning legendary status in the nation's sporting history.