Football News: Manisha Kalyan and Sunil Chhetri win AIFF Footballer Of The Year
Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri has been named the AIFF Men's Footballer of the Year for the 2021-22 season
Sunil Chhetri has been named the AIFF Men's Footballer of the Year for the 2021-22 seasonIn the women's category, the honour went to the midfielder, Manisha Kalyan. The All India Football Federation announced the results on August 9, 2022.
Sunil Chhetri was named for the award by the coach of the Indian men's squad Igor Stimac, while Manisha Kalyan was named by the women's national coach Thomas Dennerby.
Sunil Chhetri was the top goalscorer for India at the SAFF Championship with five goals and was also named the player of the Tournament. He was remarkable in the third round of the qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup, racking up four goals from three matches.
The 38-year-old Indian striker has scored the third most number of goals by an active international player with 84 goals, behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Sunil Chhetri has won the award record seven times, with his maiden AIFF Footballer Of The Year coming in 2007. He later went on the win the award again in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2018–19 seasons.
After the announcement, Igor Stimac said, "Sunil was our highest goalscorer, scoring five goals, and also the player of the Tournament in the SAFF Cup. His commitment, leadership, discipline and hard work were impressive throughout bad and good times."
Manisha Kalyan earned her maiden Women's Footballer of the Year award, owing to her strong performances for the National team and her club, Appolon Ladies.
The 20-year-old Indian sensation was named the emerging footballer of the year by AIFF for the 2020-21 season. She has recently signed a contract with Apollon Ladies, a top division club from Cyprus.
Apollon Ladies F.C. is set to compete in the qualifying round of the UEFA Women's Champions League later this year.
In a press release by AIFF, Thomas Dennerby said, "Blessed with excellent speed and being a good dribbler, she has the potential to play in bigger leagues in the future. She is young and still developing but has been our best player."
The other AIFF awards for the 2021-22 season were won by:
Emerging Footballer of the Year (Men's): Vikram Partap Singh
Emerging Footballer of the Year (Women's): Martina Thokchom
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