India vs China Highlights: India held China to a goalles draw. (Express Photo by Karan Prashant Saxena) India vs China Highlights: India held China to a goalles draw. (Express Photo by Karan Prashant Saxena) India vs China Highlights: India held China to a goalless draw in a football friendly match on Saturday as the two sides played for the first time in 21 years in Suzhou. The two sides began well in front of a packed stadium but ended the first half goalless. Both the Asian teams created multiple opportunities and showed intent but could not convert their chances. India’s standout performer in the first half was captain Sandesh Jhingan, who warded off danger for the visitors by ensuring the Chinese attackers fail to convert. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was the visitors’ saviour in the second half.<doc-sep>India will take on China in a football friendly being played in Suzhou today. The match is at 5 pm Billion-plus populations but laggards in a truly global sport -- India and China will go head to head in a football friendly for the first time in 21 years today. Both countries have seen a surge, both in investment and following, in the last decade. Today's match will be played in China's Suzhou. The Indian team is playing an international match in China for the first time, though their senior sides have faced each other 17 times in the past. China have played in India seven times, all of them in the invitational tournament Nehru Cup. The match will be telecast live at 5 pm today. India will be led by star defender Sandesh Jhingan, coach Stephen Constantine revealed in the pre-match press conference in China's Suzhou. "I think he is going to be one of the leaders for India going forward. Keeping the magnitude of the game in mind, I believe he deserves to lead the team," Mr Constantine said. India will be led by star defender Sandesh Jhingan, coach Stephen Constantine said. China is considered the firm favourite for today's game, despite their poor recent form. However, the win-loss record against India is in their favour. India has not won a single match out of the 17, while China has won 12 on occasions. The rest of the matches were a draw. China will also have the home advantage in today's game. The senior teams of India and China last played in the 1997 Nehru Cup in Kochi which the 'Red Dragons' won 2-1. Today's match at Suzhou, around 100 km from Shanghai, has attracted a lot of interest among the football fans in the backdrop of the competition between the two Asian giants on several fronts. India and China account for over a third of the world's population. They are also the fastest growing global economies. But both countries, often called "sleeping giants", have been disappointing in terms of football at the international stage. This is more true for India as the country has not featured in a single FIFA World Cup while China has done so once -- in 2002, when they exited from the group stages after losing all their three matches. Despite being a lesser force on the global stage, China have been consistently among the top-10 in Asia and in the top-100 in the world. They are currently 76th in FIFA rankings and seventh in Asia. China has played 11 times in the Asian Cup, the continent's top competition and has finished runners-up twice and third as many times. India, on the other hand, has played thrice in the Asian Cup (1964 runners-up; 1984 and 2011) and recently broke into the top 100 in the FIFA rankings after a long time. India is currently 97th in FIFA rankings and 15th in Asia. Today's match, being played by both sides in the FIFA international friendly window as part of preparations for the AFC Asian Cup in January next year, will test India's progress in recent years. When asked, Indian coach Stephen Constantine said, "We will go all out for a win. But if we lose, we will try to find out the positive aspects." Lead striker and regular skipper Sunil Chhetri, who will take the field as the country's lead striker, wondered just why it took so long for the two countries to play each other. "We should not afford them much space. At the same time, whenever we find a little room of opportunity, we have to construct the moves and counter them," Sunil Chhetri said. China have been in poor form recently, and have been struggling in the last few international matches it played. China faced a 0-1 loss to an inexperienced Qatar last month and then a 0-0 stalemate with Bahrain.<doc-sep>
In the India vs China football match, a gritty India thwarted a wave of Chinese onslaughts to play out a remarkable goal-less draw in an international football friendly played for the first time after 21 years between the two countries Suzhou on Saturday. In a keenly-watched match played between the two most populous countries in the world but still laggards in the global game, China clearly dominated the proceedings with several chances coming their way but they failed to get a goal. Chinese forwards' goal drought continued while the Indians, especially the back-four of ... Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor