Bhaichung Bhutia, The Indian Football Legend

July 12, 2019July 12, 2019 Team Tentaran 0

Bhaichung Bhutia is a hall of Famer in the Indian Football. He used to be the face of Indian football and popularly known as “Sikkimese Sniper”. He is as sharp as a sniper when in front of the goal. As the nickname suggests, Bhaichung hails from Sikkim in a city called Tinkitam. He has played as the Centre-Forward for the Indian Football Team. He is not a tall and physical striker rather, he is tiny and agile standing at 5 ft 8 inches. He did his schooling from Saint Xavier’s School, Pakyong, East Sikkim. Always being a fan of football, he joined the Boys club in Gangtok at the age of 14. Bhutia had been awarded the best player in Subroto Cup held in 1992. 2 years later, he joined the Boys Club. He signed his first professional contract with the East Bengal FC.

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Bhaichung was the second Indian player to play internationally as he played for the third division English team called Bury FC. Bhaichung Bhutia has had 82 appearances with the Blue Tigers scoring 27 goals. He was the captain of the Indian football team and led them to double Nehru Cups, 2008 AFC Cup, and the South Asian Football Federation Championships three times. Bhaichung won the Arjuna Award for Football in 1998. He also won a Padma Shri in the year 2008. He is a fan of the Arsenal FC in England and FC Barcelona in Spain.

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Apart from football, he is the father of three children. He has 2 daughters and one son. He got divorced with his wife and is now the one who takes full responsibility for his children. Bhaichung Bhutia also tried his luck in dancing as he competed for the popular TV show “Jhalak Dikhla Ja” and actually won it defeating Gauhar Khan and Karan Singh Grover. There was a special match played between the German giants FC Bayern Munich and the Indian National Team for the farewell of Bhaichung Bhutia on 10^th January 2012. Bhaichung officially took retirement from football on 24 August 2011. He now actively takes participation in football discussions and sits with the officials for the betterment of the Indian football.