New Delhi: The India senior football team will play China for the first time in 21 years in an international friendly as a part of the preparation for the AFC Asian Cup next year, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) confirmed, Friday. Though the date of the match is yet to be finalized, sources indicate that it will be played in October.
India will travel to Beijing to play against the 75th ranked China. Both the teams have faced each other 17 times with the Chinese winning 12 of them while the rest ended in a draw. The last time they played was in 1997 in Kochi in Nehru Cup.
Terming the occasion as ‘historic’, AIFF general secretary Kushal Das said: “China and India are today being seen as the two fastest emerging football markets, globally. We are happy to have come to the conclusion of our month long discussion with the Chinese FA, and I thank our marketing partners FSDL for their involvement and cooperation.”
Head coach Stephen Constantine however expressed satisfaction about the match and said that he couldn’t have asked more than this.
“With an eye on the preparation for the Asian Cup, as a coach I couldn’t have asked for anything better than an opponent like China. I am sure the boys will make the best of the opportunity presented to us and look forward to test ourselves ahead of the AFC competition,” Constantine said.
India are currently ranked 97th in the FIFA rankings and has maintained an unbeaten run of 12 games in a span from June 2016 to November 2017.