Sunil Chhetri signs for Sporting Lisbon reserves
6 July 2012 12:05 AM IST
Portuguese football giants Sporting Lisbon on Thursday unveiled Sunil Chettri as their newest signing this year. However, the Indian captain will be not be starting for the main team but donning the colours of the reserve team and play in the second division of the league.
Reserve teams in Portugal are not allowed to play in the same division as their main team, thus being ineligible for promotion. Reserve teams are not permitted to enter in the cup competitions like the Taca de Portugal and the Taca da Liga.
'Really happy, looking forward to it. I feel like a 14-year-old. It's too early to say where I will be playing, first we have to make sure I'm fit and fine. Go there and see what the coach wants,' an emotional Chettri said.
Chettri himself might have been confused where he would play but his agent Yogesh Joshee set the record straight saying that he would be playing for the 'B' team, which is the reserve side.
'Makes more sense for him to join the B team. Our aim was to make sure he gets regular football. The contract is minimum for a year. We will divulge all the details in the next 24 hours. There were other European clubs interested in him. But now he's a Sporting player,' said Joshee.
Chettri, who trained at the Sporting Lisbon ground with the national team before the start of the Asia Cup, said that he needed to prove himself and see what he could achieve.
'At the end of the day I have to go there and prove myself. I just want to see how much I can achieve there. I want to take each day as it comes. There's only one thing on my mind that I have to go and train there. We trained there for one and half months with the national side.'
The striker said that he only got to know about the offer a week back.
'It's huge for me and the country. There were talks but I didn't have the full details. I was told only 5-6 days back. It's going to be difficult. I will be playing in one of the best clubs in the world. I will not let anyone down.'
Vice-president of the Portuguese club Aureliano Oliveira Neves said that signing Chettri was there first initiative towards rasing the level of the game in India.
'We have also come here for the development of Indian football at the grass-roots in India and will work for that with the AIFF. He (Chettri) is going to be playing this season. Signing Chettri is the first step of our commitment towards Indian football,' said Nevez.
Sporting Lisbon is one of the three big clubs in Portugal with Benfica and FC Porto being the other two. The club has won 18 Primera Liga titles, 19 Portuguese Cup. Sporting though have won one European trophy (UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1963-1964). They came closest to lifting one of the most coveted trophies in Europe when they finished runners-up in UEFA Cup (2004-2005).
SILENCE OVER CHHETRI'S SIGNING FEE
The excitement on his face was palpable and there was a buzz in the air but the silence over his remuneration became a subject of speculation even before Sunil Chhetri could share the good news of him being signed by Sporting Lisbon with his India teammates.
People connected with, or, in the know of the deal here, refrained from disclosing anything about the contractual details, especially the signing fee.
‘The focus is mainly Sunil at the moment and we are not going into the contractual details right now,’ said an official involved with deal.
‘The details will be worked out very soon and you should get them in the next 24 hours,’ he added.
As the contract with Chhetri’s previous club, Mohun Bagan, was not renewed this season, the question of transfer fee does not arise. Sources close to the development thought alike. ‘But he will be getting something we are sure,’ a source said. For a nation starved of football success at the big stage, an European heavyweight showing interest on Chhetri, even for their B team, is a welcome news.
Considering the 163rd-ranked India’s standing in international football, AIFF president Praful Patel was not far from the truth when he termed the development a ‘beginning of a new era’.
Chhetri himself, surely on a lighter note, stated that money does not make much difference.
The poster boy and also the captain of the Indian football team, Chhetri is no stranger to foreign clubs having spent times at Coventry, Queens Park Rangers, Kansas City Wizards and, more recently, Glasgow Rangers. The trials, though, did not lead to selection.
The Portuguese club, in its statement, described the 28-year-old Chhetri as ‘an idon in his country’, adding: ‘He will symbolise the dreams of all the young people who have an ambition to play in Europe’.
Chhetri’s agent, Yogesh Joshee, assured that the aim is to get him play regularly unlike at Kansas.
The pint-sized striker too must be hoping that he gets to play as much as possible in the Iberian country.
Reserve teams in Portugal are not allowed to play in the same division as their main team, thus being ineligible for promotion. Reserve teams are not permitted to enter in the cup competitions like the Taca de Portugal and the Taca da Liga.
'Really happy, looking forward to it. I feel like a 14-year-old. It's too early to say where I will be playing, first we have to make sure I'm fit and fine. Go there and see what the coach wants,' an emotional Chettri said.
Chettri himself might have been confused where he would play but his agent Yogesh Joshee set the record straight saying that he would be playing for the 'B' team, which is the reserve side.
'Makes more sense for him to join the B team. Our aim was to make sure he gets regular football. The contract is minimum for a year. We will divulge all the details in the next 24 hours. There were other European clubs interested in him. But now he's a Sporting player,' said Joshee.
Chettri, who trained at the Sporting Lisbon ground with the national team before the start of the Asia Cup, said that he needed to prove himself and see what he could achieve.
'At the end of the day I have to go there and prove myself. I just want to see how much I can achieve there. I want to take each day as it comes. There's only one thing on my mind that I have to go and train there. We trained there for one and half months with the national side.'
The striker said that he only got to know about the offer a week back.
'It's huge for me and the country. There were talks but I didn't have the full details. I was told only 5-6 days back. It's going to be difficult. I will be playing in one of the best clubs in the world. I will not let anyone down.'
Vice-president of the Portuguese club Aureliano Oliveira Neves said that signing Chettri was there first initiative towards rasing the level of the game in India.
'We have also come here for the development of Indian football at the grass-roots in India and will work for that with the AIFF. He (Chettri) is going to be playing this season. Signing Chettri is the first step of our commitment towards Indian football,' said Nevez.
Sporting Lisbon is one of the three big clubs in Portugal with Benfica and FC Porto being the other two. The club has won 18 Primera Liga titles, 19 Portuguese Cup. Sporting though have won one European trophy (UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1963-1964). They came closest to lifting one of the most coveted trophies in Europe when they finished runners-up in UEFA Cup (2004-2005).
SILENCE OVER CHHETRI'S SIGNING FEE
The excitement on his face was palpable and there was a buzz in the air but the silence over his remuneration became a subject of speculation even before Sunil Chhetri could share the good news of him being signed by Sporting Lisbon with his India teammates.
People connected with, or, in the know of the deal here, refrained from disclosing anything about the contractual details, especially the signing fee.
‘The focus is mainly Sunil at the moment and we are not going into the contractual details right now,’ said an official involved with deal.
‘The details will be worked out very soon and you should get them in the next 24 hours,’ he added.
As the contract with Chhetri’s previous club, Mohun Bagan, was not renewed this season, the question of transfer fee does not arise. Sources close to the development thought alike. ‘But he will be getting something we are sure,’ a source said. For a nation starved of football success at the big stage, an European heavyweight showing interest on Chhetri, even for their B team, is a welcome news.
Considering the 163rd-ranked India’s standing in international football, AIFF president Praful Patel was not far from the truth when he termed the development a ‘beginning of a new era’.
Chhetri himself, surely on a lighter note, stated that money does not make much difference.
The poster boy and also the captain of the Indian football team, Chhetri is no stranger to foreign clubs having spent times at Coventry, Queens Park Rangers, Kansas City Wizards and, more recently, Glasgow Rangers. The trials, though, did not lead to selection.
The Portuguese club, in its statement, described the 28-year-old Chhetri as ‘an idon in his country’, adding: ‘He will symbolise the dreams of all the young people who have an ambition to play in Europe’.
Chhetri’s agent, Yogesh Joshee, assured that the aim is to get him play regularly unlike at Kansas.
The pint-sized striker too must be hoping that he gets to play as much as possible in the Iberian country.
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