He is 38-year-old but he was running like a 21-year-old – Mahesh Gawli lauds Sunil Chhetri after draw against Kuwait

India’s assistant coach Mahesh Gawli has showered praise on the team’s skipper Sunil Chhetri after the Blue Tigers played a 1-1 draw against Kuwait in their final group match of the ongoing SAFF Championship at the Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru on Tuesday.

Chhetri scored in the stoppage time of the first half to put the home team in front after an assist from Anirudh Thapa. This was Chhetri’s 92nd International goal for the national team as he continued to impress. However, Chhetri’s opening strike was neutralized by an own goal from Anwar Ali in injury time. Ergo, India finished in second place in the group.

Gawli lauded Chhetri’s fitness and added the veteran was running like a 21-year-old youngster to deliver the goods for his team.

“It was an excellent goal,” Gawli said at the post-match press conference.

“We must appreciate this legend. He has been a legend for us for many years. He is 38-year-old but he was running like a 21-year-old,” he added.

Gawli, who was himself a defender in his playing days, also showered praise on Anwar Ali for doing a fine job though he conceded an own goal at the fag end of the match.

“He was very good. We can see his confidence. There was so much pressure in such a big match, but he was playing like a cool and calm player,” Gawli said.

India’s assistant coach also slammed the referee’s decisions and feels the tournament’s organizers should look into the same.

“The refereeing was very bad. He failed to control the match. SAFF need to look into this. If we continue with such referees, it will be bad for the competition,” the assistant coach said.

“The referee gave a yellow card to Sandesh Jhingan for his first tackle. It’s not right. The referee must control the match. The coach got angry but he didn’t say anything to them but they were targetting the coach. We could see that,” he added.

Gawli was delighted with the performance of his team against Kuwait.

“I think our performance was very good. We played excellent football,” Gawli said.

India will now face Lebanon in the semi-final on Saturday. They