A place in the World Cup finals has always been a dream for China. The Chinese national team fought the qualifiers six times between 1957 and 1997, but each time were rewarded only with defeat. Last year, China finally clinched a ticket, adding the most prestigious chapter so far to China's football history. To wrap up our World Cup Special series, we continue our review on China's unremitting dashes to the finals by looking at China's performances in the last three tournaments.
With that we end our World Cup Special－－Road to the World Cup. The Chinese football team have arrived in Soul and started their warm－up exercises. They'll play three matches, the first on Tuesday against Costa Rica, followed by hot favourites Brazil and finally Turkey. We'll be keeping a close eye on how they do －－ and of course we wish them the best of luck.
It seemed like a perfect win for China ,its national football team had beaten Asian powerhouse Iraq 2－1 in the last match in the 1993 Asian zone World Cup qualifying tournament. But the victory was too little too late. China finished one point behind group leader Iraq on aggregate and failed to qualify in its fifth successive World Cup final bid.
History repeated itself in 1997 when China made its sixth attempt to make it to the World Cup finals. China got a draw, avoiding its chief rivals: South Korea and Japan. However, despite the efforts of a dozen coaches and advisors, the Chinese failed to produce the goods and finished third in its qualifying group. The team missed the World Cup finals once again, and had to wait until the dawn of a new century to fulfill its long－cherished dream.
The 21st century marked a new beginning for the Chinese football. The introduction of reforms and a premier league system began to bear results, producing a group of talented footballers such as Li Tie, Sun Jihai and Yang Chen. These athletic, handsome and charismatic young stars have helped put Chinese football on the map and have attracted a passionate following.
The new century also saw the arrival of the inspirational Bora Milutinovic, the coach with the Midas touch, who has led four other teams into the World Cup finals. This time, he produced his magic once again and helped China's footballers break down the psychological barriers that had dogged the Chinese football for decades.
In a decisive qualifying match on October 17th, 2001, China beat Oman one－nil. A single goal in the 37th minute by midfielder Yu Genwei was enough to book China's place in the world cup finals in South Korea and Japan this June.
This success is the fruition of years of work by generations of coaches and players.
We can't expect a miracle to happen in the World Cup finals where China will face stiff opposition, coming up against Costa Rica, Turkey, and world champions Brazil. But China's debut world cup appearance and the enthusiasm of its fans and players will surely bring a breath of fresh air to soccer's premier event.
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