China may lay claim to being the inventor of the ancient game of football but this historic connection does little to boost the national team's confidence as it faces its first play at the World Cup finals next week.
Keen to watch their national team in its World Cup debut after 44 years of failing to qualify, some 25,000 Chinese football fans are expected to travel to South Korea where the matches are taking place.
Hundreds of millions more, or 80 per cent of the population, will be glued to television sets with all the vigour of true fanatics as they hope to see the re-emergence of their nation onto the podium of sport's glory.
As Chinese history textbooks point out, ''it was the Middle Kingdom and not England where the greatest game on earth was invented and played some two millennia ago''.
Before imperial China slipped into the chaos of warlords infighting and was torn apart by relentless wars at the dawn of the 20th century, before it even had its bitter encounters with the Western powers during the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911), this land of cultural and material riches sported some of the most popular pastimes long considered to be European invention.
The game of ''kick ball'' was played as early as the Han Dynasty (206 BC to 220AD). Chinese athletes kicked the ball in a rectangular court surrounded by an enclosing wall. At that time, the ball was solid, made of pig's bladder and stuffed with animal fur.
By the 7th century, the ball became air-filled and kicking it around became popular with Chinese women too. All over the centuries, imperial court literati would be commissioned to write eulogies to the most exciting contests of ''kick ball''.
Glimpse of contests
Traces of this ancient sport culture have survived the onslaught of communist chairman Mao Zedong's political campaigns aimed at destroying China's ''feudal culture''. Preserved Eastern Han Dynasty frescoes depict women's football matches, while some temple murals and silk scrolls give a glimpse of male ''kick ball'' contests.
Bidding to host the Olympic Games in 2008 last year, Beijing organised an exhibition displaying China's long history of sporting genius. Along with clay models of Chinese ancient footballers, the China Sports Museum showed unearthed evidence that even sports such as golf and baseball had their prototypes in the Middle Kingdom.
''It is true that 'kick ball' doesn't exist in China any longer — what the world plays these days is the modern version of football which originated in England,'' explains Cui Lequan, senior researcher at the China Sports Museum in Beijing. ''However, in some Asian countries like Japan, kick ball has been preserved and it is still very popular.''
Winning the bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games has boosted awareness of China's ancient sports culture and also dangerously raised the stakes for Chinese athletes. Buoyed by recent economic and sporting success, the Chinese nation now demands that its athletes score more and more victories in the relentless quest for national prestige.
Survey of respondents
A survey conducted by the Beijing Youth Daily found that 45 percent of respondents said they would watch only the matches of China's team, while only 10 percent would watch all the big games.
On a recent visit to Beijing, Brazil's most famous football player Pele was surprised to discover that China had such an intimate knowledge of the game. Based on that historical connection, Pele said, China had a fair chance of passing into the second round of the World Cup, the state media reported.
While not everyone dismisses the possibility of a win, many still remember that China's debut at the World Cup this year comes after five consecutive failures to qualify that frustrated millions of fans all over the country.
''It is ridiculous to expect our players to perform miracles,'' reasons Zhao Fuquan, a vegetable vendor in Beijing's Tianzhu market. ''It is already a miracle that China is going to the World Cup finals and we should bide our time for victory.''
Nevertheless, China's World Cup appearance represents such a leap of national pride that anything short of breaking into the second round would be seen by some as an insult.
China plays in Group C, which includes Costa Rica, Brazil and Turkey. These these opponents have more experience in competing at the World Cup and could easily break China's chances of making it past the first round.
Golden chance
''We have waited for these games for more than forty years,'' fumes a football fan called Liu Junguo. ''It is our golden chance to make the world see what Chinese footballers are capable of.''
Expectations have been running so high that China's national team was forced to release an open letter asking for forgiveness from the public if the country suffered a defeat at the World Cup.
''You cannot deny, we are a new team in the World Cup and a weak one,''the letter said. ''Our lack of experience and ability have determined that we won't be able to go far.'' Posted on the official web-site of the Chinese Football Association, the letter was rebuked as ''defeatist'' by many football fans who believe the government is trying intentionally to dampen hopes at home.
''The Communist Party is falling into its own trap,'' said one foreign observer in Beijing. ''They try to exploit sports to nurture nationalism but on the other hand they don't want football euphoria to run out of control.''