But China's progress has been overshadowed by its disastrous campaign in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, which saw the previous edition's runner-up fail to make it beyond the group stage for the first time in the tournament's history.

International struggles

The nation has been struggling to play impressive soccer in major international competitions since it booked its first-ever spot in the 2002 World Cup under coach Bora Milutinovic.

That long-ago success, however, was mostly attributable to relatively easy qualifier match-ups, as archrivals Japan and Republic of Korea (ROK), as hosts, were given automatic spots.

It's likely China, which also failed to advance into the final round of the 2006 Asian Zone World Cup qualifier, will fall further behind Japan and ROK, as both have been drawn into a more comfortable group.

Japan, qualified for the last three World Cups, will take on Bahrain, Oman and Thailand in Group Two when qualifying starts on February 6.

ROK - Asia's most successful team on the world stage, having qualified for the past six World Cups - faces a trip to neighboring Pyongyang after being pitted against Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Group Three. The ROK, which made the semifinals in 2002 on home soil, will fancy its chances of making the seventh finals with Jordan and minnow Turkmenistan also in its group.

In Group Four, Saudi Arabia, the losing finalist to Iraq at the Asian Cup earlier this year, will face Uzbekistan, Lebanon and Singapore.

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