David Williams, Landon Bolton, Benjamin Cole, Ian Harris, Sam, Jack Thompson... one name after another became connected to this dream. The match-fixing scandals in New Zealand and Saudi Arabia, the 5.19 Incident, the Black Three Minutes, "Jinzhou doesn't believe in tears"... these old historical photos are the chronicle of China's forty-four-year journey to qualify for the World Cup. Along the way, there has never been a shortage of suffering and thorns, but flowers and beautiful scenery have never appeared. Along the way, generations of Chinese footballers have shed blood, sweat, and tears, yet have never seen the dawn. Along the way, many people's hearts have grown cold, their tears have dried, they have fallen and never risen again, while many others have joined in, undeterred by wind or rain, unwavering in their resolve.

Time and again, we see the national flag drooping in the stands, fans with tear-streaked faces. Time and again, after falling, we look up only to see darkness. Only then do we realize that sometimes, dreams can be this cruel.

On this journey, there is always a group of people charging at the very front, their feet cut by thorns, unable to find direction in the pitch-black night, stumbling again and again on the rough road. When they fall, another group picks up the flag and charges forward; when they fall, yet another group picks up the flag and charges on, never stopping...

In 2001, yet another group of people carried the flag and continued this dream.

A cycle every four years, and now it's been forty-four years...

In the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, because Japan and South Korea co-hosted, China suddenly had two fewer opponents in Asia, leaving only Saudi Arabia and Iran. During the draw for the final round of qualifiers, China drew a very favorable lot: as the second seed, they were guaranteed to avoid either Iran or Saudi Arabia. But as it turned out, they avoided both—Saudi Arabia and Iran were placed in Group A to fight it out among themselves. With such a favorable situation, the only remaining question was whether the Chinese national team led by Milu could finally break their years of decline and carve a bloody path from Group B to Korea and Japan.

Even when facing weaker teams, the Chinese people were uneasy, because the Chinese team has always had the "fine tradition" of "capsizing in the gutter." On top of that, their performance in the group stage of the qualifiers was less than satisfactory, and in the Four Nations Invitational in Shanghai, they even lost to North Korea, who hadn't played an international match in years! In the eyes of the Chinese people, this was unforgivable, and together with the "artillery barrage" incident during the qualifiers, all these things made the already pessimistic fans even more pessimistic.

On August 25, 2001, the Chinese team played their first match of the final round at home in Shenyang's Wulihe Stadium, facing the UAE. Just three minutes into the game, the Chinese team gave the fans a huge surprise: number 10 Haidong broke into the penalty area and crossed, number 20 Gavin Young made a dummy run at the near post, and midfielder number 18 Peter Thompson followed up in the center and easily slotted the ball into the empty net!

The ball was in! 1:0!

Wulihe instantly erupted in celebration, and all the pre-match worries and anxieties were swept away by this goal.

Then, the Chinese team began their glorious journey in the final round.

August 25, at home, 3:0 victory over the UAE.

August 31, away, 2:0 win over Oman.

September 7, away against the strongest opponent in the group, Qatar, they came from behind in the first half and equalized in the last minute, earning a perfect point with a 1:1 draw.

September 15, at home, 2:0 victory over the Central Asian Wolves, Uzbekistan.

September 27, away, 1:0 win over the UAE.

At this point, China had 13 points and was firmly at the top of the standings, basically having qualified. But fans across the country were still waiting, waiting for the official coronation day. On October 7, 2001, China returned home from the UAE, and this day was naturally chosen by fans as the auspicious day for the Chinese team to advance to the World Cup.

On October 7, 2001, the Chinese team played at home against the weakest opponent in Group B, Oman.

The exhausting military training was finally over, and the long National Day holiday left people with nothing to do, so Jason Bolton, Paul Young, and Sophie went downtown in Hefei every day—not necessarily to buy anything, but mainly to kill time. Having just arrived and after a month of military training, they didn't know what fun places were nearby. Another thing was to call up a few dorm mates to play football. With China's qualification prospects looking so good, more and more people were playing football lately. Even though it was the holidays, if you went late, there would be no field available.

On October 7, after everyone finished eating, they all stayed in the cafeteria, and anywhere with a TV was packed. Jason Bolton and his friends were smart and arrived an hour early to wait in the cafeteria, avoiding the trouble of not being able to see or hear anything in the crowd.

After the match started, everyone's emotions were quickly stirred up. Whenever China attacked, there were constant cheers; when China made a mistake, people banged the tables and cursed; if Oman committed a foul, there were endless boos. Other than not being able to run around with a big flag, everything was just like being at the stadium.

Jason Bolton had this feeling: in this match, there were a billion fans in the stands at Shenyang's Wulihe. Only the Chinese team could have such a huge number of fans for a single match, right? Even though we are angry at their lack of progress and saddened by their misfortune, as Chinese people, as Chinese fans, how could we not support the Chinese team? So no matter how much we usually hear people curse Chinese football, when it comes to such a crucial match in the final round, the Chinese team has never lacked fans!