On birthday, Chhetri named 'Asian Icon' by AFC, gets praise for rivalling Ronaldo, Messi

Talismanic Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri was today named an 'Asian Icon' by the game's continental governing body on his 34th birthday and received effusive praise for rivalling the world's greatest players of his generation in scoring goals.

Chhetri is currently the highest goal-scoring active Asian player with 64 strikes from 101 matches and third in the world after superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) made his birthday a memorable one by presenting, on its official page, a throwback of his life and career and the best moments on the field, when he played for India and his clubs, beginning from 2005 in a match against Pakistan.

"In the era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, to be the third highest scoring international footballer in the world is no mean feat, and for an Asian player to be within one goal of Messi's 65 goals for a national team is a record our latest inductee to the 'Asian Icons' list should be proud of," the AFC wrote.

"As he turns 34 today, we celebrate the career of Sunil Chhetri, India's most capped player and all-time top goal scorer."
Describing Chhetri as one of Asia's greatest footballers, the AFC said, "In a cricket-mad nation, Chhetri was raised in a footballing family, where his father represented the Indian Army team while his mother and aunt were international footballers for Nepal."
"A journey that would take Chhetri to become one of Indian and Asian footballs greats started when he signed for Mohun Bagan in 2002."