After weeks of preparation and no shortage of words from either camp, China will finally play Australia at 2 pm today at Tuodong Stadium in a must-win World Cup qualifier that is expected to be fiercely contested.

There will be many variables at play today – Kunming's altitude, an Australian side coping with several injured players and a fervent Chinese crowd that could end up turning on their own players should the Socceroos manage to build an early lead.

Although Australia is generally considered the stronger team, it has suffered untimely injuries to star players including Bruce Djite, Scott McDonald, Mile Sterjovski, Tim Cahill, Brett Emerton and Josh Kennedy. Even Aussie coach Pim Verbeek is on the ropes, suffering from stomach problems that interrupted a press conference earlier this week.

After drawing with Iraq, China needs a win today if it wants to keep its hopes alive of participating in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. China is also dealing with its own injuries - strikers Dong Fangzhou and Shi Jun will not be playing today.

Regardless of how the match ends up, it is providing Kunming with a rare taste of international soccer and an excuse to take the afternoon off. There are a couple of match-related events planned for today:

Pre-match party: Chapter One on Wenlin Jie will be holding a pre-match party beginning at 10:30 am today, with free snacks and one half-price drink for all ticketholders.

Post-match party: Socceroos supporters have organized a party for after the match at the Fisherman's Bar in Kunming Zoulang on Renmin Zhong Lu, featuring select beers on discount for 12 yuan as well as Kunming's largest selection of Aussie beers including Coopers and VB.

China's World Cup qualifier match against Australia is little more than two weeks away, but Australia coach Pim Verbeek has already fired the opening salvos in what come gametime is likely to be a fiercely contested match.

Saturday's Sydney Morning Herald quoted Verbeek – who was in Chongqing to witness China's losses to South Korea and Japan in the East Asian Championships last week – as saying the China Football Association's decision to host the Australia match in Kunming has made his team more determined to win. At an elevation of 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level, Kunming's altitude is expected to present a challenge to the Australian team.

Pressure on China to win their upcoming match in Kunming is high after they played to a draw in their World Cup qualifier against Iraq.

Australia's confidence is high after beating Qatar – the fourth country in what has been dubbed as the qualifying round's "group of death". Defeating China would make it very likely that Australia would make it into the World Cup for its third time ever.

"Probably we will have [the] better players, so the only way to beat us is to make it as difficult as possible - and that's why they play in Kunming and not in Beijing or Shanghai," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Verbeek as saying.

"They're not stupid. On purpose they play at 1900 meters, on purpose they ask us to travel longer than normal … that's why we play in a place nobody has heard of. But on the other hand, I think that is a mistake, because our players are very willing to show it doesn't matter at all. At this moment, I go for three points. I don't go for a draw. After the game, we may have to be honest and say this is the best result we can get. But now the players want to show we have the better team, so we go there to win."

After losing in Chongqing to East Asian rivals South Korea and Japan, the pressure on China to beat Australia is high – a win would keep its hopes of going to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa afloat, but a loss would make it highly unlikely that China would qualify.

"China is one of those countries where the fans definitely expect their team to win," Verbeek said. "And they have to win, because after the draw against Iraq, they have to beat us. They have a lot of new players in the team. They have had a very long preparation, and during that preparation, the coach sent out five or six players because he was not happy with them.

"At the East Asian Championship, the results were not good, but I thought they were not bad. I was not concerned with results, I was looking for quality and weakness in the team, and I still think they will be dangerous. But they have the pressure. They will have 50,000 people making unbelievable noise, and that is good for us."

There will also be some cash at stake for host team China when they play Australia at Tuodong Stadium on the 26th.The China Football Association has pledged to give eight million yuan to China's national team should it qualify for the upcoming World Cup. Additionally, the team will receive 500,000 yuan for each victory over a nation ranked in the world top 50 and 300,000 yuan for defeating lesser-ranked teams.

Image: FOX Sports Australia

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China, Australia to battle for World Cup playing rights in Kunming

Kunming's Tuodong Stadium has been selected as the site of the March 26 World Cup qualifying match between China and Australia's national soccer (football) teams as they fight to advance through what has been dubbed the "group of death" – a qualifying group that also includes powerhouses Iraq and Qatar. Only the group winner and runner-up will advance to the World Cup.

Each team will bear its own unique burden going into the stadium, with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

For China, the pressure to qualify for the World Cup is immense. China has only managed to qualify for the global soccer tournament once – in 2002, by beating Oman in the freezing weather of wintry Shenyang. After failing to qualify for the 2006 World Cup and with the country preparing to hold the Olympics this year, there is national pride at stake, but there is also a hefty bonus riding on the team's ability to qualify.

The China Football Association has pledged to give eight million yuan to the national team should it qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Furthermore, the team will receive 500,000 yuan for each victory over a nation ranked in the world top 50 and 300,000 yuan for defeating lesser-ranked teams.

Last week the Beijing Youth Daily reported that the Chinese team took a New Year's oath to qualify for the World Cup, reciting:

"I pledge to advance to the World Cup, which is the professional goal that we strive for… we swear by death to kill along the bloody road of defending the honor of the motherland and realize our youthful dreams."

For Australia, aside from having to play strong teams from Iraq and Qatar, the Socceroos will have to cope with Kunming's high altitude. At roughly 1,900 meters above sea level, Tuodong Stadium poses a major challenge to Australia, which has no high-altitude training facilities of its own.

Australia is now filtering through player files from 2005 to determine which of its players are best- and least-suited to playing at high altitude. Australian media is viewing China's selection of Kunming as a strategic move to disrupt the Australian side.

Image: Football Wallpapers.com