The face of Indian football and star forward Sunil Chhetri might be playing his last season. Indian football team head coach Igor Stimac said that he feels that the upcoming season might be Chhetri’s last one and hopes the 38-year-old unleashes his best as he is close to bidding adieu to his career.

Stimac stated that at this age, Chhetri might say goodbye to football and the upcoming Asian Cup will be his last. He added that he is sure that the upcoming months will be the best for the Indian forward.

He also said that Chhetri has been on the bench preparing himself and working to shed his weight, which is very difficult to handle at this age. Stimac also mentioned that he is not shying away from the fact that some players including Chhetri, Sandesh Jhingan and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu are the team’s core strengths but are getting old and the Indian team might need new players to come in and deliver.

Igor Stimac said that it is difficult but ‘goodbyes need to come’.

Indian players are in a five-day camp in Kolkata ahead of the Tri-Nation Football Tournament, featuring the higher-ranked Kyrgyz Republic and Myanmar. The tournament will be played in Imphal from March 22.

The AFC Asian Cup, which will be one of India’s major campaigns, will be held in Qatar from January 12 to February 10. Chhetri played a crucial role in qualification to the tournament and will be the first Indian footballer to play in three Asian Cups.

Chhetri’s Bengaluru FC will be playing in the ISL finals against ATK Mohun Bagan on March 18.