Sunil Chhetri Achieves Unique Feat In 150th Game; Moves Closer To Messi, Ronaldo

Appearing in his 150th international game, Chhetri put the Blue Tigers ahead with a goal through a penalty kick in the 38th minute.

As Chhetri shot past the Afghanistan goalkeeper Ovays Azizi from the spot after Haroon Amiri's handball, he followed on his outstanding-yet-unique achievement. The Indian skipper continued on his record of scoring a goal in each of his milestone games. The Indian striker has now goals in his first, 25th, 50th, 75th, 100th, 125th and 150th games.

Talking about this unique pattern, Chhetri had said before the match that he was not even aware of this stat.

"I wasn't aware of this stat. If you ask any player, they will not be thinking about such stats. Even if they know some stats, the moment the kick-off whistle goes, they will forget about it," he had said.

All India Football Federation (AIFF) had felicitated Chhetri for reaching this milestone ahead of the Afghanistan clash.

Chhetri's 94th strike also took him closer to the football legends, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, in terms of international goals by active players.

Ronaldo leads the tally with 128 international goals while Messi remains at the second spot with 106 strikes in international football.

Despite Chhetri's brilliance, India were handed an embarrassing defeat by Afghanistan at home after both teams held each other for a goalless draw in the first leg of the qualifiers.

After an impressive first half, India were jolted by two big blows from the Afghanistan side as the visitors equalised in the 70th minute courtesy Rahmat Akbari and then marched ahead with a penalty in the 89th minute that was converted by Sharif Mukhammad.