Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Nanning: China PR sealed third place at the China Cup on Saturday following a dramatic 4-3 penalty shootout win over Croatia at the Guangxi Sports Center.
Yin Hongbo, Chi Zhongguo and Fan Xiaodong all scored from the spot while Wang Jingbin missed his attempt during the test of nerves. However, a miss by Croatia’s Josip Mišić and Wang Jinxian’s successful conversion duly sealed the win for Marcello Lippi’s side.
Luka Ivanušec had drawn first blood for Croatia in the 36th minute thanks to an assist by Fran Tudor to hand the Europeans a slender lead at the break.
Jingbin equalised late in the second half for China when he connected with a pass from Deng Hanwen a minute before full-time.
The Chinese advanced to the third-place play-off after losing 2-0 to Iceland in the new international friendly tournament’s opener on Tuesday.
China are currently bottom of Group A in the third round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup with one point from five games. They have, however, already qualified for the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.
Photo: AFP