BENGALURU (Reuters) - Sunil Chhetri's decision to come out of retirement to play for India again came as no surprise given the forward's outstanding performances in the Indian Super League this season, Bengaluru FC's Spanish midfielder Alberto Noguera has said.
Chhetri retired from international football in June last year, but the 40-year-old donned the India jersey again and scored his 95th international goal in a 3-0 victory over Maldives in a friendly on Wednesday.
The fourth-highest international goalscorer with 95 goals after Cristiano Ronaldo (135), Lionel Messi (112) and Ali Daei (108), Chhetri has shown impressive form in the ISL, netting 12 goals in 24 appearances for Bengaluru FC this season.
"For me, it was not a surprise because of the kind of season he had, it's amazing. He is the second top scorer in the league," Noguera told Reuters.
"Of course, he decided to retire but after (India coach) Manolo Marquez called him, it's normal... because he has always been talking about helping the national team. He still has the desire to play.
"He can help develop young players. He's going to help the team... I know, he's not a young player but I'm sure that he can still help to do good things in the national team."
With FIFA considering a one-off expansion to 64 teams for the 2030 World Cup, Noguera believes India, who have never played at the finals, can qualify under new manager Marquez.
India are not in contention to reach the 2026 World Cup after finishing third in Group A in the second round of qualifying following a 2-1 defeat by Asian champions Qatar.
The country's most notable accomplishments to date remain their gold medal victories at the 1951 and 1962 Asian Games, and their fourth-place finish at the 1956 Summer Olympics.
'GREAT POTENTIAL'
Spaniard Marquez, who guided Hyderabad FC to their first ISL title in 2021-22 and then coached FC Goa, replaced Igor Stimac as the head coach of the India team in July.
His side ended a 489-day winless streak on Wednesday.
"I think under Manolo right now he has great potential, they (India) have a great future. I think they would be fighting for those 64 positions," Noguera said.
"India are improving a lot in the quality of the players, the youngsters. If they keep (developing) in this way, I'm sure that they will be there.
"Of course, cricket is the first sport (in India) but I think football is coming close. The potential here is massive, so I really press a lot that football can achieve those things."
Although Noguera has been busy helping Bengaluru qualify for the ISL playoffs, with five goals and three assists in 22 appearances this season, he has also been following his former club Atletico Madrid in LaLiga's title race.
The 35-year-old, who made a handful of appearances for Atletico, does not have high hopes for Diego Simeone's side after their 4-2 loss to Barcelona this month.
Atletico are four points behind leaders Barca, who have a game in hand, and second-placed Real Madrid.
"It's difficult with Barcelona and Real Madrid fighting for the title. I'm sure that Atletico will be close to them, but I don't know if they still have the time," the Spaniard said.
"Since Simeone joined the club (as manager in 2011), they are doing really great things. Of course, it's difficult for our team (Atletico), with a smaller budget than the others, to be there and fight with them (Barcelona and Real).
"These two clubs in Spain are top level and it's very difficult to fight against them."
(Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
