{"id":14958,"date":"2025-03-06T22:39:30","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T17:09:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=573377"},"modified":"2025-03-06T22:39:30","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T17:09:30","slug":"sunil-chhetris-comeback-a-closer-look-at-his-decision-to-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/football\/sunil-chhetris-comeback-a-closer-look-at-his-decision-to-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunil Chhetri\u2019s comeback: A closer look at his decision to return"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"82\" data-end=\"586\">Sunil Chhetri, one of India\u2019s most celebrated footballers and former captain, has officially made his comeback to the national team after announcing his retirement in May last year. In a surprising and emotional announcement, Chhetri revealed that he would be rejoining the Blue Tigers for the March 2025 FIFA International Window. This move comes at a crucial time as India prepares for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"588\" data-end=\"1067\"><strong data-start=\"588\" data-end=\"630\">The Significance of Chhetri\u2019s Comeback<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"588\" data-end=\"1067\">Chhetri\u2019s return is nothing short of a monumental event in Indian football. With an impressive 94 goals to his name, Chhetri ranks as the fourth-highest goal scorer in men\u2019s international football, behind only football legends Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Ali Daei. His return to the Indian squad is sure to bolster the team\u2019s confidence and performance, as he brings his wealth of experience and leadership back to the field.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1069\" data-end=\"1312\"><strong data-start=\"1069\" data-end=\"1128\">India\u2019s March Fixtures: Key Matches for the Blue Tigers<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1069\" data-end=\"1312\">In the upcoming March window, Chhetri will play an important role in India\u2019s preparations for the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers. The Blue Tigers will face two challenging opponents:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"1314\" data-end=\"1578\">\n<li data-start=\"1314\" data-end=\"1455\"><strong data-start=\"1316\" data-end=\"1355\">India vs. Maldives \u2013 March 19, 2025<\/strong>: This international friendly is crucial for India as they prepare for the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers.<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"1456\" data-end=\"1578\"><strong data-start=\"1458\" data-end=\"1499\">India vs. Bangladesh \u2013 March 25, 2025<\/strong>: The first competitive match of the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers Final Round.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-start=\"1580\" data-end=\"1714\">Both matches are pivotal as India aims to strengthen their squad and improve their standing ahead of the major continental tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sunil Chhetri, one of India\u2019s most celebrated footballers and former captain, has officially made his comeback to the national team\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":36401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[127],"class_list":["post-14958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-sunil-chhetri"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}