WHERE TO WATCH
India’s first international fixture in China is scheduled to be held at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium in Suzhou City on October 13, 2018.
The kick-off is 17:05 (IST) and will be telecast on the Star Sports Network in India.
Live streaming will be available on Hotstar and Jio TV.
SQUADS
Indian Team
GOALKEEPERS: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Karanjit Singh.
DEFENDERS: Pritam Kotal, Sarthak Golui, Sandesh Jhingan, Anas Edathodika, Salam Ranjan Singh, Subhasish Bose, Narayan Das.
MIDFIELDERS: Udanta Singh, Nikhil Poojary, Pronay Halder, Rowllin Borges, Anirudh Thapa, Vinit Rai, Halicharan Narzary, Ashique Kuruniyan.
FORWARDS: Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sumeet Passi, Farukh Choudhary.
Chinese Team
GOALKEEPERS: Zeng Cheng, Yan Junling, Zhang Lu
DEFENDERS: Zhang Linpeng, Feng Xiaoting, Li Xuepeng, Yu Hai, Liu Yiming, Wang Tong, Yu Yang
MIDFIELDERS: Zheng Zhi, Yu Hanchao, Zhao Xuri, Jin Jingdao, He Chao, Piao Cheng, Chi Zhongguo, Wu Xi, Mirahmetjan Muzepper
FORWARDS: Gao Lin, Wu Lei, Xiao Zhi, Yu Dabao
MATCH PREVIEW
STARTING XI
MATCH STATS
90+1′ – India Rowllin Borges (IN) Anirudh Thapa (OUT).
84′ – India Vinit Rai (IN) Pronay Halder (OUT).
83′ – YELLOW CARD – Nikhil Poojari (India)
79′ – Substitution, India. Farukh Choudhary replaces Jeje Lalpekhlua.
79′ – China PR Fan Xiaodong (IN) Li Xuepeng (OUT).
67′ – China PR Mirahmetjan Muzepper (IN) Zhao Xuri (OUT).
63′ – India Nikhil Poojari (IN) Udanta Singh (OUT).
63′ – India Anas Edathodika (IN) Narayan Das (OUT).
58′ – YELLOW CARD – Liu Yiming (China PR)
45′ – China PR Yu Hanchao (IN) Wang Tong (OUT).
45′ – China PR Yu Hai (IN) Jin Jingdao (OUT).
45′ – China PR Xiao Zhi (IN) Yu Dabao (OUT).
45′ – China PR Liu Yiming (IN) Yu Yang (OUT).
TALKING POINTS
-The match was billed as ‘the earth derby’ as nearly a third of the world’s population lives in these two countries.
-China should’ve won the game. They created a number of chances – which were either thwarted by Indian Goalkeeper G.S. Sandhu or they were just unfortunate – hitting the post, goal mouth scramble etc.
-China played a 4-2-3-1 to India’s 4-4-2. The Indian midfield was overrun and the Chinese held onto large chunks of possession and created a lot of chances (20 attempts at goal). Anirudh Thapa was positionally unaware during the game; Pronay did a decent job holding on to the ball although he was surrounded by 2-3 Chinese players during the game. Still, his style of play bodes well for the future. Udanta Singh and Narzary didn’t get much freedom to break free as they were trying to cover their fullbacks throughout the game.
-India did get 2-3 good chances, but the Indian wide and forward players were wasteful.
-Going forward (literally and figuratively), India needs to switch to a three-man midfield and stop playing non-possession based football. The team rarely wins the second ball and the strikers (Jeje and Chhetri) are not playing to their strengths. The wingers and forwards sit back way too much for transitions to work in their favour.
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