'Sonar Sunil' - How Fans in Kolkata paid tribute to India captain Sunil Chhetri?

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Sunil Chhetri bid farewell to international football in Kolkata on Thursday (June 6). The stalwart of Indian football played in the Blue of India for the final time against Kuwait in a World Cup Qualifiers match.

Sunil has a massive connection with Kolkata. The Indian star's journey started from Kolkata with Mohun Bagan. He also represented another city club East Bengal and then made his way up to the Indian football team.

Apart from the monumental importance of this match for India and their World Cup qualifiers hopes, emotion for Sunil Chhetri was palpable. The general feeling and emotion of Kolkata was all around the India captain on the eve of the match. Fans across the city and beyond came to watch team India and see their favourite star for the final time in India colours.

The Yuba Bharati Krirangan was buzzing in anticipation. The cheer from the crowd was reaching high decibels as the Blue Tigers came out of the ground to practice before the start of the match.

As the players came out of the tunnel before the match, the Yuba Bharati shoed their love and left no stone unturned. The entire stadium was cheering their voice out with 'Suuuuniiiiil, Suuuniiiil' chant as the India captain emerged for his swansong.

Sunil Chhetri carrying the Weight of India

Apart from the unadulterated love for their beloved captain, the Kolkata fans constructed three Tifos for the match, all dedicated to the short-statured 39-year-old.

Two of those Tifos were hoisted in the North Stand. The first one depicted a Sunil Chhetri image where he is being transferred the entire weight of the Indian football from the legends. The likes of Bhaichung Bhutia, Renedy Singh, Krishanu Dey and others are present in that tifo.

The second one, just beside the first, showing as Chhetri standing tall with the weight of the Indian football on his shoulders, as he has been doing for the past decade or so.

'Sonar Sunil - Tomay Hrid Majhare Rakhbo'

The Kolkata fans also had a banner set up for Chhetri which wrote, 'Thanks Captain. Leader. Legend.'

Apart from that, another fantastic tribute was seen through another Tifo in the East stand of the stadium. The magnificent pictorial work wrote, 'Sonar Sunil. Tomay Hrid Majhare Rakhbo' (Dear Sunil. We will always keep you in our hearts).

It is to be seen how the India captain's swansong goes, but Kolkata has lived up to their expectations. The City of Joy is known for its unadulterated love, and they had no shortage of that for their favourite captain.