The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship 2021 recently kicked off in style. India is currently placed fifth in the tournament. After failing to secure a win in the initial encounters, India eventually ended the winless run against Nepal on October 10. With several games to go this season, it could still be anyone’s tournament. However, for India things have not been very smooth this year and had it not been for Sunil Chhetri they would have struggled to stay afloat by now. The 7-time winner needs to pull up socks quickly to remain in contention for the tournament going forward. But for now, let us focus on three of the all-time leading scorers for India at the SAFF Championships.
Sunil Chhetri
The lone warrior for India on the football arenas, especially after the exit of Baichung Bhutia, who has been instrumental in keeping India’s hopes alive to a large extent in the current edition. With 15 goals (and counting as he is yet to finish) to his credit, the 37-year-old rules the roost in the championship. After making his debut in 2008, the sensational players left everyone in shock in 2011 with 7 goals, overtaking IM Vijayan’s feat of 6 goals in 1997. In fact, Chhetri has been the key man for India on all three occasions (2009, 2011, 2015) when the country won the SAFF championships out of the total seven times. As a captain in the 2015 edition, he scored thrice on four occasions to help India claim the trophy for the seventh time. So, without an iota of doubt, he is the all-time leading scorer for India at present when it comes to SAFF games.
Baichung Bhutia
The Sikkim sensation is second on the list with 12 goals in the SAFF Championships. His best came in the 1999 championship where he happened to be the joint top scorer and was also given the honour of most valuable player for his stupendous efforts. He captained India to glory in 2005, where he netted twice, including once in the final, which helped the country lift the championship for the fourth time. His final appearance came in 2008, where he scored two goals in the match against Nepal. Despite not being an active player anymore he continues to be an inspirational figure for zillions of aspiring footballers in India.
IM Vijayan
Apart from being the second highest goal scorer (30) for India on the international stage, the Kerala striker with 10 goals is placed third in the list of all-time goal scorers in the SAFF competitions. In the 1993 edition of the SAARC Gold Cup (as SAFF was known previously), India scored their first-ever goal in the tournament, courtesy of Vijayan’s boots. He scored thrice in that year. “The Black Buck” of the Indian football, as he is called fondly, then became top-scorer in 1997 with six goals, but the record was later broken by Sunil Chettri. His last appearance was in 2003 in which he scored one goal against Pakistan to help beat the arch-rivals 2-1. Finally, Vijayan announced his retirement from the game in the very same year.
