The 42-year-old, who never faced a football giant like Brazil in his 20-year international career, says today’s players are lucky. But he’s also issuing a wake-up call: stop blaming each other. As India slips to 138th in FIFA rankings and clubs face financial chaos, Chhetri wants everyone; players, coaches, AIFF, even media; to own their part. No finger-pointing. Just teamwork. He’s not coming back, he jokes, because he can barely run now; but his belief? Unshaken. “Things are kharab, but they’ll be fine,” he says. Hope, not hate, is his message. Football isn’t broken; it’s just waiting for all of us to fix it together.