South Asia is not the first region that comes to mind when you think of football.
From a global perspective, not even one country made it to the top 100 team list. India, the highest-ranked nation in the region, made it as far as the 108th spot.
Bhutan, the second-smallest South Asian country, hasn’t made a significant impact even within the region. Their best achievement In the SAFF Championship was advancing to the knockout stage, once in 2008. About seven years ago, their international ranking was deep within the 200+ zone. You may have heard of Bhutan as one of the sides of the “Other Final”, a match between the two lowest-ranking teams in the world. The match was played in 2002, at the same time as the FIFA World Cup finals. In that match, they beat the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat.
A lot has changed since that year. Meanwhile, Bhutan managed to beat Sri Lanka and advance to the second round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, their first qualifying round appearance. It is surely the most glorious achievement Bhutan has ever accomplished.
In terms of the league, the federation has rebranded the league to a three-tier system in 2019. Bhutan is also working hard on installing fresh infrastructure - renovating the national stadium, Changlimithang, and building a new artificial turf stadium in the city of Paro are just two examples of the efforts invested in promoting local football.
Chencho Gyeltshen is the most notable of Bhutanese players. Chencho is the most capped and all-time leading goal scorer of Bhutan, and one of the very few players to play outside his homeland. He has played in Thailand (Buriram United, Surin City), Bangladesh (Chittagong Abahani) and India (Minerva Punjab, Bengaluru FC, NEROCA FC). His achievements include 3rd top scorer of I-League when he was playing for Minerva Punjab in 2017-18. He is also known as the Bhutanese Ronaldo and CG7, nicknames he earned due to his Cristiano Ronaldo-like playstyle.
Chencho’s contract with Bengaluru expired in July 2019, and after a short break, he unexpectedly returned to his hometown, Paro FC. Paro was the champion of the 2019 Bhutanese Premier League and was preparing for their first-ever AFC Cup game. They are also the first Bhutanese club to offer any player a full-time contract. Chencho was surely the huge boost for this young and inexperienced club on their international debut. It was left to be seen whether he will deliver results.
Sure enough, he lived up to the expectations and helped the small Bhutanese club make history. He scored twice in the preliminary round against Sri Lankan champions Defenders FC - once goal in each leg. With his help, Paro advanced by away goal difference (5-5 in aggregate). This match will be remembered forever as it is the first time a Bhutanese club managed to advance beyond the first round of the AFC Cup.
By a twist of fate, the second round saw Paro FC playing Bengaluru FC, where Chencho Gyeltshen once played. Although the champions of Bhutan lost heavily to the Blues (1-10 in aggregate), Chencho scored the only goal of Paro against his former team, cracking Bengaluru’s dream to keep a clean sheet.
When Chencho first joined Paro, there was a contract clause which states that he was free to leave as soon as Paro gets eliminated from the AFC Cup. Despite the opportunity, Chencho remains committed to the club and keeps on wearing the uniform.
The Bhutanese Premier League kicked off in early August without foreigners due to the lock-down. The season opener saw Paro FC and Druk Star FC, where Chencho Gyeltshen was on fire again. He netted four goals, two with the right, one with left, and one with a header. Thanks to his effort, Paro hammered the Stars 8-0 at the newly built Woochu Sports Arena.
Despite this impressive result, Paro lost their game against Transport United 1-2. Chencho scored Paro’ sole goal in the match.
Now, with only five games to go, Paro FC is for a second consecutive league trophy. Chencho, on the other hand, is eyeing the top scorer title again. It looks like they are both headed in the right direction.
Photo via Chencho Gyeltchen Twitter account.
