SAFF Cup: 18-year-old Chhangte has potential to take over from Chhetri as India's next football star

 

It was a watershed moment for Indian football when Bhaichung Bhutia, whom IM Vijayan famously called 'God's gift to Indian football', donned that blue jersey a final time for a farewell match against Bayern Munich at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. Among the huge crowd that had turned up to bid adieu India's greatest footballing son, there was one person who had reigned in his emotions and posed a pragmatic question. There stood a guy in the stands with placard that simply said 'who will replace Bhaichung?'
It's not just the 40 goals Baichung scored for the Blue Tigers that made him irreplaceable. It was his aura, it was his mythic stature in Indian football. In a country where sports means cricket, Bhaichung was the one name every kid could take when asked about Indian football. He was synonymous with it. You can find someone who'll score 40 international goals, maybe. But it is really hard to replace an icon. But someone did. His name is Sunil Chhetri.

But then, on Sunday night, when India took on Nepal for their final group A clash against Nepal in the ongoing SAFF Championships, Chhetri took a bit of a back seat. India saw an 18-year-old kid from Mizoram take the game in his own hands. Lallianzuala Chhangte, better known as Zuala, scored a wonder goal, one that even Lionel Messi would be proud of, and put in another one off his head on a magical night, sending India through to the semi-finals. Two nights ago against Sri Lanka, he had broken Baichung's record to become the youngest player to have played for India. In his second game on Sunday, he broke another Bhaichung record to become the youngest goalscorer for the country.
Today, every kid in India knows Chhetri, the talismanic Indian captain — a phrase that is overused, but frankly, has no better substitute. Chhetri took up the mantle from Bhaichung. He had played with Bhaichung for a considerable amount of time, but since his retirement, Chhetri stepped up. He took the captain's armband, took the goalscoring responsibility, and also became that household name, that hero that every sport needs to thrive in every corner of the world. And we do need footballing heroes in India.