China beats Finland 2-1 in soccer friendly
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-02-08 09:41

Zhang Yuning and Zheng Zhi scored on free kicks to hand China a 2-1 victory over Finland Saturday in Shenzhen in a soccer friendly.

Zhang, who also scored a goal in an earlier matchup between the two teams on Tuesday, opened scoring in the 15th minute with a quickly taken free kick that roared past Finnish goalkeeper Antti Niemi of the English team Southampton.

Finnish midfielder Peter Kopteff leveled the score in the 37th minute, driving in a ricochet of his own cross after the Chinese defense failed to clear the ball from in front of the goal.

But China restored its lead four minutes later when midfielder Zheng curled in a free kick that flew over the Finnish wall and into the top right-hand corner of the net.

Both sides battled hard in the second half. Finland came closeto scoring in the 47th minute when Zhang cleared a header off the goal line, allowing keeper Li Jian to punch the ball out of the area.

A number of players on both sides fouled, and Chinese team captain Li Weifeng was carried out of the stadium by ambulance late in the half after a collision with a Finnish player.

The central defender aggravated his back injury, according to asource close to the Chinese side.

China won Tuesday's friendly by the same score 2-1 in the southern city of Guangzhou.