Bhaichung Bhutia, also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is a former Indian footballer, who ringed in his 43rd birthday on December 15. The Sikkimese Sniper is often referred to as God gift to the Indian football.
Baichung Bhutia Biography
Baichung Bhutia is a former Indian footballer who played as a striker. He is considered to be the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena
Bhaichung started his career from East Bengal Club. Later, he joined English Club Bury in 1999 and became the first Indian footballer to sign a contract with a European club and only the second to play professionally in Europe, after Mohammed Salim.
Bhaichung Bhutia has an older brother named Chewang Bhutia. Chewang and Bhaichung both went to boarding school. Bhutia has opposite-sex twins.
In 2011, Bhutia was injured for the first two games against Australia and Bahrain at the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar. But, he came on as a second-half substitute against South Korea. However, he failed to save India, losing 4–1 as they were eliminated.
Soon after the Asian Cup, Bhutia announced his retirement for India on 24 August 2011 with a record of 42 goals in 107 appearances. A farewell match was held for the great footballer in January 2012 against Bayern Munich at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi. Bhutia then played his last club match at United Sikkim in 2015, which marked the end of his glorious career.
Baichung Bhutia Achievements
He currently is on a managerial venture at Sikkim and has founded the Bhaichung Bhutia Soccer Schools to help nurture young talent.
Bhutia’s international footballing honours include winning the LG Cup, Nehru Cup, SAFF Championship three times and the AFC Challenge Cup.
He is also India’s second-most capped player, with 82 international caps to his name. He is also India’s second-youngest international goal scorer after Jerry Zirsanga when he scored his first goal against Uzbekistan in 1995 Nehru cup.
Bhutia has a football stadium named after him in honour of his outstanding contribution to Indian football.
Bhutia won the Best Player Award at the Subroto Cup 1992 held in Delhi.
He was just 16 when he joined East Bengal, a reputed Football club from Calcutta (now Kolkata).
A well-known Football club, JCT Mills, Phagwara won the National Football League after Bhutia joined them in 1995.
Baichung won the Indian Player of the Year award in 1996.
Bhaichung scored a hattrick and led East Bengal to win the match by 4-1in the Semi-Final match of the Indian Federation Cup Football 1997.
In the match against Mahindra United played on December 9, 1997, he scored 5 goals alone for his team JCT Mills.
Bhutia earned his 100th cap for India in a 2–1 win over Kyrgyzstan in the 2009 Nehru Cup.
That is not all, the epitome of the rise of Indian football has also been honoured with prestigious awards, such as the Arjuna Award for football in 1998, and Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India, in 2008.
The skkimese footballer has also earned Banga Bhushan award in 2014 and Asian Football Hall of Fame in the same year.
Baichung Bhutia Images on India Content
The India Content website has a good stock of Baichung images from various matches and events. You will find high-quality images of the player in three sizes on the website—small, medium and large.
You can purchase various other content images from the https://www.indiacontent.in
