Chhetri has recovered well, will be team's main force: Stimac ahead of Asian qualifiers
The Hindu
Sunil Chhetri will return to action after six months to play Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Cambodia in the Asian Cup qualifiers
Talismanic captain Sunil Chhetri will return to the national team during next month's Asian Cup qualifiers and head coach Igor Stimac is confident that the country will win the tournament and book a ticket for the continental showpiece in China next year.
The 37-year-old Sunil Chhetri will return to action after six months, having last played for India during their 3-0 win over Nepal in the SAFF Championships final in October.
Stimac said Sunil Chhetri is back to his full fitness and will be the "main force and strength" of the team.
"Sunil is still here, he's still in great shape," Stimac said when asked how long Sunil Chhetri can prolong his career.
"We didn't involve him in Bahrain and Belarus games because he needed time to recover from some minor problems he was facing throughout the last couple of years.
"That time has served very well to Sunil. He has recovered very well. He's showing that on the training pitch every day and still at this point he will be the main force and strength of the Indian national team up front." Chhetri had suffered minor niggles and missed out of the friendlies against Belarus and Bahrain in March.
Stimac also said young forward Rahim Ali, who will be out of action for at least six weeks due to an injury, will be a big loss.
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