Sold out stadium after Chhetri’s plea goes viral

Dubai: Sold out! Every seat in the Mumbai Football Arena will be filled today as the captain of the Indian football national team, Sunil Chhetri, walks onto the ground for the game with Kenya.

A direct response to his heartfelt plea on Twitter yesterday, after his team’s previous match had an abyssmal audience showing.

The games are part of the Intercontinental Cup.

In the video, Chhetri told people to come to the stadiums to support their national team, “It’s the best game in the world... we play for our country.”

Chhetri admitted that while the standard of Indian football is not the same as European football, “not even close,” but they would become better with support of their fans.

After the video went viral, online users rushed to support the Indian skipper and #Chhetri100 was trending on social media. Indian Cricket captain Virat Kohli also posted a video in support of his friend.

On twitter, the Indian football’s Super League’s official handle called Chhetri a “Captain.Leader.Legend.”

A fan, @Graja0235Raja tweeted: “Can’t wait to see the atmosphere, the chants, the banners…” for tonight’s game. Another fan @Pratham_10 posted: “And guess what one video can do ...” A lot of posters and fan art of the Indian football star are also being shared online.

The match is taking place at 8:00 PM IST (Indian Standard Time)/6:30pm UAE time.