New Delhi, July 11 -- Sunil Chhetri loves to recount the story of how he started playing football.

His parents tell him that he was kicking a ball as soon as he could walk. His father, an army officer, played football. His mother represented Nepal's women's football team as a teenager. "We always had football, always, always," Chhetri says, his eyes aglow with excitement. "My father was away a lot, so I spent a lot of time playing football with my mom, who is highly competitive. She was my soul enemy. I could not win against her, and she's not one of those nice moms who will beat you and be quiet. She has one of the worst mouths when it comes to making fun of the loser, so once I started beating her, oh, the joy that I had."

Chhetri, si...