Chencho Gyeltshen is not a mere imitator of Cristiano Ronaldo. The footballer, who is known among the fans as Cristiano Ronaldo of Bhutan is living a dream and the Himalayan country’s no.
Chencho Gyeltshen is not a mere imitator of Cristiano Ronaldo. The footballer, who is known among the fans as Cristiano Ronaldo of Bhutan is living a dream and the Himalayan country’s no. ‘7’ is bold enough to declare it.
“One day I want to become a superstar,” he says, “A big star at least in South Asia,” he says. For the 20-year-old, Ronaldo Cristiano is an inspiration and the energy behind his game.
“I noticed when people started to say that my style of play resembled that of Ronaldo. I then started to watch him more and study his technique. Now I score from free kicks, I try and adapt the same running technique,” he says.
“I have a lot to improve. Every day I try to become a better player. I am not happy with my talent. And I am trying my best to improve it.”
Gyeltshen, who scored a brace in Bhutan’s historic and unlikely victory over Sri Lanka in the World Cup qualifiers earlier this year, plays from the Thailand first division team, Buriram United FC, and hopes to build a professional career abroad.
“The victory against Sri Lanka was enormous. It opened up a new policy to the sport by the government. Everything is improving and there is a lot of investment in the grassroot development. The national team is also training more.
“More players will come up but I don’t think they have enough opportunity. So I believe that the leagues like the Indian Super League should give prominence to the South Asian players. We have plenty of talent and it is just a matter of training,” he says.
“I have been closely watching several leagues, the Malaysian League, Japanese and also the ISL in the past couple of years. In Bhutan, we do not have a professional set up and I think it is better to play abroad for my career.
“I had a few offers from the ISL last season but I signed for the Thai club because I felt their offer more appeasing,” he says.
Chencho believes that Bhutan are a better placed team now — Bhutan are ranked 188th in the world — and do not have the ignominy of the lowest ranked team in the world.
