Sunil Chhetri acknowledges Kanteerava crowd with kind words after India's SAFF Cup sweep

Indian football stalwart Sunil Chhetri led the national team to a treble of trophies with their title win at the SAFF Championship 2023. The summit clash of the tournament saw India completing an unbeaten streak of 11 matches, which started with the Hero Tri-Nation Cup opener in Manipur. India defeated Kuwait by 5-4 on penalties on Tuesday to lift the SAFF Championship title for a record 9th time at the jam-packed Sree Kanteerava Stadium.

3 Things You Need To Know

• Sunil Chhetri is the third-highest goalscorer in international football after Ronaldo and Messi
• The SAFF Championship 2023 saw an astounding no. of fans attending every game
• Over 25,000 fans marked their attendance during India vs Kuwait final

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Sunil Chhetri dedicates SAFF Championship win to fans with a special message

Sunil Chhetri took to his official social media handles on Wednesday night to thank the fans for their overwhelming support towards the team throughout the entire tournament. With the SAFF Championship trophy by his side, the Indian captain name-dropped his fellow Indian teammates while revealing how the support by fans helped them clinch victories in crucial games against Lebanon and Kuwait. Here’s what the Indian team captain said.

Bangalore, you guys were special man. Generally, I say this all the time and I’m probably biased, but Pritham Da, Shubashish, Rahul, Anirugh Thapa, Nikhil Poojary, Anwar, Akash, they all came and spoke to me about this, that they felt something different this time in Bangalore. You guys were outstanding. 

The West Block, the East upper and lower, the North Stand and even the South Stand. Special mention to the travelling Manjapadda, the mariners, the northeast brigade, the east Bengal ultras and a few others I’m unable to recall right now, but all of you coming together and supporting us the way you did was something. And let me tell you a small secret, the games against Lebanon and Kuwait weren’t easy and if you weren’t there, we wouldn’t have got this.

I’m just telling you facts. I’m not trying to praise you, not trying to be modest. I’m just telling you a fact. If you guys weren’t there and if not for the way you guys came in and supported us, this wouldn’t be there. Throughout this year, right from when we played at Manipur to Odisha and now Bangalore, the whole nation, everywhere we went, it has been special.

I hope you understand how important you guys are. We are going to win some games and going to lose some, but just knowing that we are all in this together gives us a lot of hope. And one thing I can tell you about this team is that we fight. No matter what, we fight. No matter where we are playing, we fight. And no matter who we are playing, we fight. We always do that. So, this is me, on behalf of the whole team telling you guys, the whole of Bangalore, and the supporters from different clubs, thank you so much.

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What happened during the SAFF Championship 2023 final?

It is worth noting that the SAFF Championship 2023 final concluded in epic fashion as the Sree Kanteerava crowd in unison started singing a rendition of AR Rahman’s 'Vande Mataram' and 'Maa Tujhe Salaam.' Earlier in the game, Shabib al Khaldi opened the scoresheet for Kuwait in the 14th minute, which followed a goal by Lallianzuala Chhangte in the 38th minute. The match entered the penalties after the score was tied 1-1 following 120 minutes of intense on-field action. The game eventually went into penalties, and Team India won the championship final by 5-4.