India dished out a dominating performance but failed to notch up a win, playing out a 1-1 draw against Singapore in their international friendly in the Hung Thinh Tournament in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday.
Ikhsan Fandi put Singapore ahead in the 37th minute when his free-kick from about 25 yards out took a deflection off the Indian wall and beat goalie Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
Singapore’s joy lasted just six minutes as Ashique Kuruniyan equalised in the 43rd minute off an assist from captain Sunil Chhetri.
Jeakson Singh made an interception in the Singapore half, passed the ball to Chhetri, who put Kuruniyan through on goal. Kuruniyan calmly slotted the ball home with a left-footed grounder which beat Singapore goalie and captain Hassan Sunny.
India are ranked 104th while Singapore are at 159th.
Chhetri was not happy with the performance. “There are many things that we could have done better,” he said later. “Without being too harsh on ourselves, there are a few things that we need to work on.”