China was presented with a golden opportunity to win yesterday's 2010 World Cup qualifier match against Australia in Kunming, but it was Aussie goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, not China's Shao Jiayi (邵佳一), who would emerge the hero after blocking Shao's 88th-minute spot kick – the match resulting in a 0:0 draw.

After yesterday's 2:0 upset of Iraq by Qatar, Australia has four points and leads Asia's 'group of death', with China in third place behind Qatar with two points. China has four more matches left during the qualifying stage and still has a chance of qualifying.

Aside from maintaining Australia's leading position in its group, yesterday's draw was a moral victory for the Socceroos, who went in to the match with five of its starters including Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill sitting out due to injuries. Australia was also concerned about the effects of Kunming's 1,900-meter altitude on both its players and the ball - Australia coach Pim Verbeek was critical of the choice of Kunming to host the match, saying his players had little time to adjust to the altitude and expressing concern about the possibility of 'floating balls'.

Ironically, it was China – which had been training in Kunming for weeks – that had problems with floating balls. In the second half China had several opportunities near the Australian goal that were wasted when passes sailed over the heads of open men.

With four goal attempts compared to Australia's one, China was increasing its pressure on the Australian goal, culminating in a penalty kick after goalkeeper Schwarzer was hit with a foul on Qu Bo (曲波) in the penalty area. The thunderous noise generated by the home crowd vanished when Schwarzer stopped Shao's kick with his feet, then pounced upon the ball. Shortly afterward, Australia's David Carney had an opportunity to win the match, but was unable to redirect Mark Bresciano's cross into the Chinese goal.

After the game, Shao apologized for missing the spot kick, which, had it made it past Schwarzer, would have likely given China a victory, putting it atop the group with four points.

Asia's 20 teams are divided into five groups, with the 10 winners and runners-up reaching the final group stage. Four teams will advance from the final group stage to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with the two next-best teams playing for the chance to play the winner of the Oceania group for another berth.

"I truly feel it was regrettable, I'm sorry to everyone," Shao told Chinese media, "As it was, we totally had an opportunity to win this game, but the spot kick didn't go in… now all I can do is apologize to my teammates and the fans."

"You saw it today, we gave it our all," he continued, "You could say we had a definite advantage – during the game there were several opportunities, it's a pity we were unable to seize them."

Shao Jiayi image: clzg.cn

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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