‘I tried a lot, worked on my powers to get other lads’: Sunil Chhetri on India’s squad at Asiad

The Indian men’s football team had a tough start to the Asian Games, enduring a 1-5 hammering against hosts China in their first outing at the continental showdown. Despite the shattering outcome, the unit defeated Bangladesh in a do-or-die encounter, and on Sunday they engaged in a 1-1 draw against Myanmar, which helped them qualify for the knockouts for the first time in 13 years.
While the performance may not have been as good as witnessed in the past tournaments – Intercontinental Cup, and SAFF Championships – the team should be proud with what they’ve achieved, considering they hardly got any time to practice. A final draft of the players traveling to China was finalised almost at the last hour, with few unavailable when India were playing their first match.