SALON, France, May 29 - China snatched a last-minute draw with Qatar via a penalty in their second round match at the 2018 Toulon Tournament, a traditional yearly event featuring U-21 national teams.
China and Qatar lost their respective match in the first round, and were both eager to win on Tuesday afternoon in southern France.
Squandering a chance in the 13th minute, China conceded a goal in the 15th when Qatari forward Ahmed Alganehi made a left-foot shot.
Staring from the 26th till the end of the first half, China dominated the pitch and pressed Qatar in their own field.
The second half was even more competitive. Just before the final whistle, a Qatari bad foul in the box on Xie Weijun gifted China a crucial penalty kick.
Cong Zheng converted the penalty with a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner.
The referee showed nine yellow cards in the match, six to Qatar and three to China.
China coach Sun Jihai told Xinhua after the match that China still lags far behind top teams in the world - and even in Asia.
Sun said Chinese players are still making mistakes in basics, and they need international competitions such as the Toulon Tournament to accumulate experience.
Looking ahead to China's next match against Mexico, Sun said Mexico is a very strong team and the Chinese do not have a numerical target in mind.
"We will prepare diligently. and try to do better in details - than we did today," he said.
In the other game of the same group, Mexico and reigning champion England grinded out a scoreless draw.