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The Blue Tigers will be locking horns with the national football team of China in a friendly after 16 years.
The coming Saturday, October 13, will witness the 'historic' match. It is historic in the sense that this will the first time the Indian National team will be playing The Dragons on their soil. Most of their previous meetings have either been on Indian soil or elsewhere.
The upcoming International friendly is of paramount importance as it will help the Men in Blue gear up for the AFC Asian Cup which is slated to kick off in January next year in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Stephen Constantine has announced the 22-member squad and they have already landed in China. The meteoric rise in India's FIFA Ranking was earlier credited to playing friendly matches against weaker opponents but such is not the case with China.
While the Blue Tigers are currently ranked at 97th place in the FIFA Rankings, The Dragons are at the 76th position.
Not only will this be of good exposure for the Indian team, but the match also rejuvenates the long-lost rivalry between the two neighbouring nations. In this article we take a look at 5 historic matches played between the two nations and also the head to head results overall.
Head to Head:
Total Matches played: 17
Won by China: 12
Won by India: 0
Matches Drawn: 5
Yes, India have never been able to overpower China but the squad picked this time around has the best chance yet. The Blue Tigers also maintained an unbeaten streak of 14 matches before going down against the Maldives in the final of the SAFF Championship 2018. However, a relatively young and inexperienced squad had been fielded for SAFF but the one against China is full-fledged with the best of the Indian lot.
Here are 5 of the historic matches:
#5 India vs China, 17 June 1956
This was the first match Independent India played with their Chinese Counterparts. The match was hosted in New Delhi, India, and ended up in a 1-0 win for the visitors with Cong Zheyu being the only goal scorer of the match.
#4 India vs China, 4 September 1974
The encounter was a part of the 1974 Asian Games and the venue was Tehran in Iran. It ended in heartbreak for the Blue Tigers as they were handed a 7-1 drubbing by China.
The Chinese team was extremely ruthless. Wang Jilian and Li Guoning scored a brace, while Liu Qingquan, Rong Zhixing, and Chi Shangbin all scoring a goal-a-piece for China.
It was a disastrous Asian Games campaign as India lost all their matches in Group B. The other two were a 0-3 and 1-4 losses to Iraq and North Korea, respectively. Magan Singh Rajvi was the player to score both the Indian goals in the entire campaign.
#3 India vs China, 24 November 1982
The venue for the 1982 Asian Games was New Delhi. The host nation was placed in Group C alongside China, Malaysia, and Bangladesh.
After a 2-0 win against Bangladesh, and a 1-0 win against Malaysia, India were up against a strong Chinese unit and needed a draw to secure a place in the quarters. A 2-2 draw is exactly what they managed. Shen Xiangfu got the visitors in the lead but India's Shabbir Ali and Kartick Seth scored a goal each in the 53rd and 60th minute, respectively, to give the advantage to the hosts. The nail-biting match ended in a draw after Zuo Shusheng equalized for China.
India were the table toppers during the 1982 Asian Games and had 5 points. They would eventually go on to narrowly lose 0-1 to Saudi Arabia in the quarters but nevertheless, their campaign proved that it was a time of the revival of Indian football.
#2 India vs China, 11 April 1997
India lost 1-2 to China in the third-place match of the 1997 Nehru Cup.
The venue was Kochi and four teams -- Uzbekistan U-19, Iraq, China PR, and Ghana -- had flown in to take part in the football Mundial. Iraq was the runaway favourites to lift the trophy but The Blue Tigers had an extremely special campaign. Initially, four round robin matches were to be played by each team.
India drew 0-0 with China, 2-2 with Uzbekistan U-19 and Ghana, but lost 0-1 to Iraq. This meant that they would take on Iraq in the semifinal match. In front of a crowd of over 60,000, India lost the match 4-2 on penalties to the eventual champions after the score was tied at 1-1 in regulation time. This is regarded as one of the most heartbreaking matches for the Indian team ever.
The third-place match was set up between India and China, which the former lost 1-2, with Bhaichung Bhutia scoring the solitary goal for them. Bao Wenjie, Huang Yong scored the decisive goals for The Dragons.
#1 India vs China, 27 September 2002
The last meeting between the two teams was at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea. India were placed in Group C alongside Turkmenistan, Bangladesh, and China.
The format was such that the top 6 teams would make get a straight entry into the quarters. Meanwhile, 2 of the 6 best 2nd placed teams from each group would join them (on the basis of goal difference).
Bhaichung Bhutia scored a brace in India's 3-0 win over Bangladesh. He also scored a brace in India's 3-1 win over Turkmenistan. However, their most difficult challenge still remained -- China. The winner of the match would have secured a place in the quarters but it was just not meant to be for the Blue Tigers as China won the match 2-0, with Yu Tao scoring a brace for them.
Vengeance for all these losses would be on the back of the minds of the Indian players as they take the field on October 13. However, it is extremely important that they keep their cool as China will also have the home advantage and a big crowd is expected for the game at the at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium in Suzhou City.
