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The news came in a single line in the list of the day’s sports
transactions: Kansas City Wizards Added F Sunil Chhetri to the 24-man roster.
The move barely registered with most American sports fans, while it was
probably somewhat exciting to a small portion of the most knowledgeable soccer
followers; nowhere near David Beckham but still kind of cool.
Back in India, however, Chhetri’s signing was monumental. Front-page
news, can-you-believe-it, call-your-friends big.
One of the biggest stars in the world’s second-most populated country —
1.1 billion people and counting — became the first player from his country to
sign with Major League Soccer, to go through a door the people of India hope
will stay open.
“He’s a rock star, absolutely,” said Raghu Sardhr, an Indian attending
the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where Chhetri played his first game for
the Wizards. “The people back in India love him. It was really, really big
news.”
Sunil Chhetri was little more than a name on a list when he first
popped up on Kansas City’s radar.
The Wizards, like most MLS teams, receive dozens of letters, video
links and DVDs each month from players seeking a chance to play professional
soccer. The Kansas City staff feels guilty about not giving everyone a chance,
so they take a look.
Chhetri immediately caught their eye, even in the limited video clips
they were able to obtain. Find a way to get him to the United States and we’ll
give him a shot is what they told representatives from the Indian team.
After Chhetri made it to Arizona for a training camp with the Wizards,
it was clear he could play.
Blurry-fast feet. Nose for the goal. Connected with the other players
on the attack almost instantly. Good instincts, able to adapt to the team’s
style of play without thinking about it. Quick to get the ball ahead instead of
holding it too long. Hits well with both feet, uses his entire body to strike
it. Pretty good in the air at 5-foot-7.
This guy, the one the Wizards players thought was a local kid, the
coaches only knew from a list, could really play.
Even better, Chhetri had a burning intensity to go with his talent.
“We learned he’s extremely competitive, has a desire to be successful
and when you have that, you can get a lot out of a guy,” Wizards coach Peter
Vermes said. “If someone has the talent and they don’t have the fire in the
belly, so to speak, every day you’re struggling to get those guys going. This
guy just gets it.”
What the Wizards didn’t realize was just how big he was back in India.
Chhetri has been a regular on the Indian national team since 2004,
scoring 16 goals in 35 appearances. His most famous moment came in the 2008 AFC
Challenge Cup final against Tajikistan, where he scored three goals to send India
to the Asian Cup for the first time since 1984.
The reaction in India to Chhetri’s move to the U.S. has been like what
happened in Japan nine years ago when Ichiro Suzuki switched to Major League
Baseball, just without the round-the-clock TV coverage — at least not yet.
The Wizards held the news conference for his signing at 9:30 p.m. local
time so it could be broadcast in India. The team has doubled its Facebook
friends to 12,000 since he joined the team, many of them posting photos of
their favorite star, some saying his signing will bring more fans to MLS than
Beckham ever did.
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| Kansas City Wizards’ Sunil Chhetri, left, battling for control of the ball with Colorado Rapids’ Mehdi Ballouchy in the first half of the U.S. Open Cup qualifying soccer game, in Kansas City, Mo. in April. |
Rob Johnson, Kansas City’s vice president of communications, has been
inundated with calls from media members in India, often at 3 or 4 a.m. because
of the time difference.
“It’s really blown us away, not only the amount of the interest but the
depth of the interest, kind of all things Sunil,” said Greg Cotton, chief
operating officer of the Wizards’ parent company, OnGoal. “But he is the face
of Indian soccer. A lot of the Indian press has told us that they believe Sunil
is going to be the one who’s going to bring Indian soccer to the rest of the
world. That’s pretty exciting when you hear stuff like that.”
Back in India, dozens of stories have been written about Chhetri’s monumental
move, treating every development — a goal during training was front-page news —
as if it were a lunar landing. Chhetri has done close to 150 interviews since
agreeing to terms with the Wizards on March 25 and another live feed to India
is expected.
The Times of India, a newspaper with over 10 million readers, printed the Wizards’ news
release verbatim when it was announced that Chhetri would start a game against
Colorado in the U.S. Open Cup.
“We’ve called him the Michael Jordan of India, but I don’t think we
still really appreciate how big he is,” Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad said.
“It’s a country of 1 billion and everybody knows his name. That alone puts him
a little different stratosphere.”
Just don’t expect Chhetri to feel the pressure.
Soccer doesn’t have nearly the fervent following in India as cricket
does, but it’s still much bigger there than in the U.S. An estimated 80 million
viewers tune in to watch English Premier League games on TV and Indian
national-team members are like national heroes.
Chhetri accepts the expectations of a nation, he just won’t let them
weigh him down. He worked too hard to get this opportunity, still has so much
he wants to do.
The focus that got Chhetri here will keep his eyes on the goal as the
attention swirls around him.
“I haven’t given anyone my telephone number, I’ve tried to keep to
myself because all of this is like added pressure,” Chhetri said. “I try not to
think about these things. The only thing I was thinking about when I got here
was to give my best and make the most of this opportunity.”
Sardhr and the rest of India’s soccer fans are counting on it.
He and four other Indian students watched a game in April from the
stands, then worked their way behind a fence to a sidewalk leading to the
Wizards locker room. After 10 minutes of furtive, excited glances toward the
door, they saw Chhetri walk out.
Their eyes lit up and so did his when he looked up to find a group of
his countrymen waiting. They chatted for a few minutes and snapped a photo
together before Chhetri walked off toward the team bus, leaving the students
with huge grins and an amazing story to tell the people back home.
“We’d love to see more Indians come here and I think this will open the
door,” Sardhr said. “He’s one of the best if not the best in India, so they’re
excited.”
That, as the Wizards found out, is a huge understatement. —AP
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