New Delhi: Sunil Chhetri, the Indian football captain has now emerged as not only a magician with the ball but also with words.

His ability to sway the masses with his words was displayed when a video in which he requested people to watch India's matches in stadiums went viral. It worked wonders as fans thronged the venue for the Intercontinental Cup in Mumbai earlier this year. It was an effort much applauded by football supporters and also players from other sports including the Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli.

Now, his acceptance speech of an award given out by a fashion magazine for his achievement in sports displayed his wit and left the crowd in peals of laughter.

Expressing his gratitude after receiving the award, Chhetri said, “I thought I was receiving the award for the way I dress, the way I do stuff out of the pitch, my personality, the way I look. But now that we’re all convinced, including me, that this award, like all the other awards in my life, is for sports, I’d start by thanking the coaches, the players, the physios, the staff, everyone at the Bengaluru FC and the national team because of whom I won this award and probably all the awards I’ve won before and all the awards I’m going to get.”

Chhetri ended the speech with a promise to continue the hard work his team has put forth till now and make sure that Indian football achieves great heights.