India Draw 1-1 With Vietnam In Global Football Friendly

Manolo Marquez should be looking to add to his tally of successes as India head coach as his side played out a 1-1 draw in an entertaining World Cup friendly with Vietnam here on Saturday.

Vietnam took the lead in the 38th minute through Nguyen Hoang Duc before Farukh Choudhary adjusted in the 53rd minute at the Thien Truong Stadium, about 100 km from Hanoi.

In Marquez’s two matches as head coach so far, India have drawn with Mauritius and lost 0-3 to Syria at the Intercontinental Cup in Hyderabad last month.

Ranked 116th, Vietnam are 10 places above India (126th) in the FIFA rankings.

In a crucial first half, India goalkeeper and captain Gurpreet Singh Sandhu saved a long-range shot from Vietnam in the tenth minute after Rahul Bheke fouled a home attacker. Vietnam captain Que Ngoc Hai’s shot went straight to Sandhu anyway.

Two minutes earlier, Choudhary had been freed in an Indian attack, but his left-footed shot from the right was saved by Vietnam goalkeeper Nguyen Filip.

Vietnam were dominating the proceedings as the match progressed and Nguyen Van Toan’s shot in the 17th minute went just wide.

India had another chance in the 27th minute, Choudhary’s left-footed shot from a difficult spot after a Brandon Fernandes pass failed to beat the Vietnam goalkeeper.

Chau Ngoc Quan almost gave Vietnam the lead in the 32nd minute when he got past an Indian defender with a turn and his left-footed shot beat Sandhu but the ball went inches wide.

Vietnam’s final goal came six minutes later. Bui Vi Hao’s volley from inside the box was deflected by an Indian defender and Gurpreet’s outstretched leg could have touched the ball but not enough to clear it from the area.

All Nguyen Hoang Duc needed to do was to flick the ball out of the net from the touchline.

India were much better in the final quarter. They had a strong spell and more than held on for an equaliser in the 53rd minute.

Defender Anwar Ali sent a long ball flying from near the halfway line and Choudhary won a duel with Vietnam goalkeeper Que Ngoc Hai quite effectively and he slotted the ball past the onrushing Nguyen Filip into an empty net.

After ten minutes, Lallianzuala Chhangte’s strike into the Vietnamese box almost gave them real confidence but the home goalkeeper was able to get his hands on it.

India were in command for the majority of the final period and the Blue Tigers rocked the home defence on several occasions. Choudhary, meanwhile, was replaced by Edmund Lalrindika.

In the 71st minute, Chhangte’s shot took a deflection and went wide for a corner.

However, from that point on, Vietnam came back strongly and were on the scoresheet until now. They created a series of scoring opportunities but could not convert any of them.

In the 79th minute, Sandhu produced a superb reflex save to deny Van Vu’s header from inside the box.