Soon after his high-profile signing with Sporting Lisbon last year, Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri was stuck on the bench for a prolonged period in the Iberian country, and it affected him so much that he often slipped into bouts of "depression".
"I was disappointed playing just five matches in six months and that too not starting. I go into depression if I don't get to play," Chhetri said here today about his stint in Portugal, referring to his rare appearances.
"For me it's very important to play matches at this stage of my career, I am not 19 now."
I-League club Churchill Brothers had in February signed Chhetri on loan from Sporting Lisbon for four months.
The 28-year-old striker had signed a two-year contract in July last year that would keep him with the Lisbon club till June 2014.
But Chhetri, a former Kansas City striker, found it hard to break into the ranks and spent most of the time warming the bench in the Liga de Honra, which is the second division Portuguese league.
"I am on loan and discussions are on as far as my going back to Sporting is concerned," he said.
Meanwhile, Chhetri felt Bhaichung Bhutia's appointment as head of the technical committee in the All India Football Federation (AIFF) is a positive development.
"I am very happy for Bhaichung and he has always been inspirational. His presence in the AIFF will definitely make a huge difference. At such a tender age he is already running a club (Sikkim United)."
Talking about the race between Churchill and East Bengal heating up in the I-League, Chhetri said his team is taking it one match at a time.
"I want to win the race. We have got a huge match against Dempo on April 17. We are taking one match at a time, we have got a good team. Beto is a huge loss, we are also missing Tomba (Singh). We have got a very good bench strength and we are geared up for the match," he said.
