India vs Vietnam: East Bengal star Anwar Ali pulls off stunning goal-line clearance - watch video

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In the India vs Vietnam friendly match that ended in a 1-1 draw, Indian centre-back Anwar Ali pulled off an exquisite goal-line save in the 82nd minute to deny a late win to the hosts.

The East Bengal defender, playing as a part of a three-man centre-back combination, produced one of the moments of the match when he headed back a shot from the onrushing Nguyen Quang Hai.

It was a clearance of the highest order, considering that Anwar Ali was rushing towards the goal and had to head back the ball in the opposite direction with little time to react, and the young centre-back responded well to the challenge to ensure a result for India.

Anwar's late heroics ensured that the scoreline stayed at one-all, with India securing an away draw after Farukh Choudhary cancelled out the opening goal from Vietnam's Hoang Duc Nguyen.

Vietnam were the superior team for most of the match, controlling the gameplay against an Indian team that struggled to string together simple passes. The hosts had an early chance to go forward, with Rahul Bheke conceding a penalty in the 12th minute. However, captain Gurpreet Singh Sandhu saved the ensuing penalty kick, keeping India in the match.

The skipper could not produce the same magic when Duc Nguyen's shot was unfortunately deflected off Anwar Ali's leg to creep into the bottom corner for the opening goal in the 38th minute.

The second half saw a much better performance from the Blue Tigers, with Farukh Choudhury capping off a dream comeback to the national team with a delightful chip goal in the 53rd minute to bring back parity to the game.

The rest of the match involved India weathering a series of attacking waves from Vietnam, who pushed hard to win the match. However, a series of strong saves from Gurpreet as well as solid defending from Anwar ensured that the visitors did not return empty-handed from their Vietnam tour.

Despite securing a draw against a higher-ranked team, head coach Manolo Marquez will be concerned with the 11-match winless run that the Indian national football team currently finds itself in.

The new manager will also be disappointed with the performances of several national team regulars, with Rahul Bheke, Subhasish Bose, and Naorem Roshan Singh turning in sub-standard performances.

Indian football fans will hope that the team can sort out these issues soon ahead of the upcoming planned friendly match against Malaysia in November.