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		Sandesh Jhingan. Photo: @SandeshJhingan</div>
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The Indian football team is playing an international match for the first time in China though the two countries' senior sides have faced each other 17 times in the past

India vs China Football, Sandesh Jhingan, Indian football team

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&#39; goal drought continued while the Indians, especially the back-four of captain Sandesh Jhingan, Narayan Das, Pritam Kotal and Subhasish Bose, played their hearts out to held their nerves till the end.

	The home side had at least three clear chances with two being denied by the woodwork while their star striker Gao Lin failed to find the target several times. Custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu stood like a rock in front of the Indian goal as he denied the home side at least on four occasions.

	It was a remarkable achievement for India as they have drawn against a continental top side like China in their own den. India&nbsp;were&nbsp;playing on the Chinese soil for the first time and there were periods in the match, though few and far&nbsp;between,&nbsp;when the visitors threatened on the counters.

	India had two very good chances on either side of the breather, one from Pritam Kotal and another from substitute Farukh Choudhary, and a couple of half chances.

	The draw is also expected to take India higher in the FIFA rankings. They are now placed 97th while China&nbsp;are&nbsp;at&nbsp;76th&nbsp;spot.

	On the other hand, China, coached by 2006 World Cup winning Italian coach Marcello Lippi, continued their recent struggle as they failed to score in three matches on the trot.

	China had lost to an inexperienced Qatar team 0-1 last month before playing out a 0-0 draw against Bahrain. They have not scored since beating Thailand 2-0 in June.

	India head coach Stephen Constantine had predicted an attacking-minded Chinese team and that precisely turned out as the home side made a wave of attacks in the first session.

	But the visitors did not give an inch to the Chinese attackers who has played more than 100 international matches,&nbsp;for most part&nbsp;while goalie Gurpreet made a few fine saves.

	In the seventh minute itself, the Indian goal was under threat but Jinghan made a timely clearance for a corner following Yu Dabao&#39;s shot.

	The Indians grew in confidence as the match wore on and they even had a very good chance in the 13th minute when Sunil Chhetri passed the ball back to Pranoy Halder who went&nbsp;diagonal&nbsp;to Anirudh Thapa who, in turn, laid it for an onrushing Kotal.

	But Kotal&#39;s right footer from the right side of the box was parried away by Chinese goalie Yan Junling. That was the best chance India had in the first half.

	Two minutes later, Gao had a free header from a corner but the ball went directly to Gurpreet&#39;s hands.

	India got a free kick in the 17th minute and Thapa&#39;s delivery found an unmarked Chhetri making a&nbsp;first time&nbsp;shot but the ball sailed over.

	Meanwhile, halfway through the first half, Gurpreet again pulled off a fine save as he blocked a low shot from Gao after a defensive mistake by the Indians.

	As soon as the second half began, Gao rattled Gurpreet&#39;s crossbar in the 48th minute but a few minutes later Udanta Singh was set up by Holicharan Narzary but the Manipuri shot over the crossbar in a hurry.

	The 71st minute also saw the Indian crossbar being rattled by a Wu Lei volley and it was pure luck for India as Gurpreet was completely beaten that time.

	Five minutes later, Gurpreet again pulled off another fine save to deny a Xiao Zhi header from a corner.

	Towards the end of the regulation time, there was a scramble near the Indian goal-line but the visiting side, who desperately threw their bodies towards the close of the match, survived as the match ended in a stalemate.
Before Saturday, India&nbsp;and&nbsp;China had played 17 times with the last one being in 1997 in Kochi. China had won 12 times while the remaining five were drawn matches. 
&nbsp; 
India football squad vs China 
&nbsp; 
Goalkeepers: Amrinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Karanjit Singh. 
&nbsp; 
Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Sarthak Golui, Anas Edathodika, Subhasish Bose, Salam Ranjan Singh, Narayan Das. 
&nbsp; 
Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Pronay Halder, Nikhil Poojary, Rowllin Borges, Vinit Rai, Anirudh Thapa, Halicharan Narzary, Ashique Kuruniyan.

India vs China Football Match Live Streaming: Indian football team playing with China football team for the first time in China. Find India vs China Football match live updates.

India vs China football match: India hold China to goalless draw in Suzhou

Business Standard

India vs China football match: India hold China to goalless draw in Suzhou | Football News - Business Standard

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		45&#39; At half time, China and <a href="https://twitter.com/IndianFootball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IndianFootball</a> would be disappointed as they&#39;ve been unable to score from opportunities created to give their team the lead. Both teams showed intent, but lacked finishing. 
		 
		CHN 0 &ndash; 0 IND<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CHNvIND?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CHNvIND</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AsianDream?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AsianDream</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndianFootball?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IndianFootball</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BackTheBlue?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BackTheBlue</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreIndia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIndia</a> <a href="https://t.co/Uw0c1iMcj3">pic.twitter.com/Uw0c1iMcj3</a>
	&mdash; Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/IndianFootball/status/1051085703851982854?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2018</a></blockquote>
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AT HALF TIME: India hold China to 0 | 0 at&nbsp;Suzhou&nbsp;

39th minute: Slowly, China take control of the game back. Xiaoting plays a through to Xuepeng and his cross sees Dabao take a tumble inside the box. The ball whizzes past Wu Lei and Bose clears it.

34th minute: India passing brilliantly to be in a goal scoring position but they are not able to complete the moves

30th minutes: After half an hour of play, India still holds China as they are defending brilliantly. China had 2-3 chances but India&#39;s defense and Keeper made excellent efforts to save the goal. 
 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	
		30&#39; The second 15 mins of the first half saw <a href="https://twitter.com/IndianFootball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IndianFootball</a> come back strongly and threatened with clear scoring opportunities, but PR China has still been kept at bay by <a href="https://twitter.com/GurpreetGK?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GurpreetGK</a> 
		CHN 0 &ndash; 0 IND<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CHNvIND?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CHNvIND</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AsianDream?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AsianDream</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndianFootball?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IndianFootball</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BackTheBlue?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BackTheBlue</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreIndia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIndia</a>
	&mdash; Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/IndianFootball/status/1051081560580087808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2018</a></blockquote>
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24th minutes: Gurpreet saves a brilliant shot as China took the attack from the right&nbsp;

17th minutes:&nbsp;OVER! Chhetri gets a free-kick near the touchline and Thapa is over it. He kicks it long and on the farside for Chhetri whose boot stick to the ground but still gets his first-time shot to go over the crossbar.&nbsp;

15th minutes: The first quarter of the 1st half has seen China not been able to convert their opportunities, and Pritam&#39;s powerful right footer was brilliantly saved by Chinese keeper.

14th minutes: Another move from China for a goal but Sandhu remained rock solid

12th minutes: India makes brilliant move as they take attack to chinese goal post. A brilliant effort from Chinese goalkeeper denied India fom taking a lead

11th minutes: China takes the corner and the ball is punched away by keeper Sandhu. Chinese player tries to hit a goal in rebound. But the shot is wayward

10th minutes: Another opportunity for China but Sandesh gets the touch, corner for China

9th minutes: Udanata playing brilliantly as he is getting the ball from Chinese player

6th minutes:&nbsp;Udanta does ever so well to track back and force Xuepeng to loose the ball over the by-line. India get a goal kick.

China in red, ranked 76th versus India, in their home blue, ranked 97th gets underway in Suzhou