'You Guys Were Special': Sunil Chhetri Heaps Praise On Bengaluru After Lifting India To 9th SAFF Championship Title

Indian football team skipper Sunil Chhetri has extended his gratitude to Bengaluru for getting behind them following their 9th SAFF Championship title that they won on Tuesday (July 4th). Chhetri also admitted that India wouldn't have beaten Lebanon and Kuwait if not for the crowd support and hailed the fans for coming from different parts of the country.

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India extended its dominance in SAFF Championship history, beating Kuwait in a hard-fought final on Tuesday. With the scoreline at 1-1, the hosts beat Kuwait 5-4 in a penalty shootout as the crowd went into delirium.

In a video shared on Instagram, Chhetri, who topped the goal-scoring charts, underlined:

"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."

Sunil Chhetri says he is not trying to be modest by praising the fans:

The 38-year-old went on to claim that Lebanon and Kuwait were tough oppositions and thanked the crowd for staying behind India to help them pull it off. The forward added:

"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."

Chhetri's exploits in the event has lifted his goal tally to 92 in internationals, which is only behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.