Fifa World Cup qualifiers: China hold Saudi Arabia 1-1 as players pay tribute to MU5375 crash victims

Defender Zhu Chenjie scored late equaliser through a penalty kick for China which used no naturalised players

Japan join Saudi Arabia to seal World Cup spots after beating hosts Australia 2-0 in another match

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Chinese players celebrate after Zhu Chenjie (no. 20) scored the equaliser against Saudi Arabia and point to the sky to pay tribute to the recent air crash in Guangdong. Photo: AP

Published: 12:59pm, 25 Mar 2022

Without any naturalised players, China forced a 1-1 draw against Saudi Arabia in Thursday’s 2022 World Cup Asian qualifier, but the result made little difference to the overall outcome.

Even before the match started, the Saudis had qualified for the Fifa World Cup, after Japan defeated Australia earlier in the day. China’s hopes for a shot at World Cup glory ended after last month’s defeat to Vietnam.

Saudi Arabia were rarely in trouble, but with time running out, Li Xiaopeng’s side were awarded a penalty when the ball struck Abdulelah Al Amri on the hand. Defender Zhu Chenjie stepped up to confidently claim his first international goal and earn his side a point.

Saudi Arabia’s midfielder Fahad al-Muwallad (C) vies for the ball with China’s defenders Zheng Zheng (L) and Zhu Chenjie on the look. Photo: AFP

China have played all their home matches of the campaign outside the country because of quarantine requirements.

Unlike previous games, manager Li Xiaopeng dropped four attacking naturalised players before bringing the team to the Middle East while defender Tyias Browning, the only naturalised player of the team who started in their last match against Vietnam, remained on the bench throughout 90 minutes.

More than 160,000 fans approved of a Sina Sports comment that supported Li’s decision.

“When our players gave all their best, it didn’t look that bad without a naturalised player, the team played even better. Chinese fans are very simple, we love the team no matter if they win or lose, but we will not love the team if they haven’t tried. We can lose, but cannot afford losing with both knees down”.