China awoke on Thursday to the bitter reality that their hopes of reaching the 2006 World Cup were hanging by a thread.
The Asian Cup finalists suffered a huge setback with a 1-0 defeat in Kuwait on Wednesday that left them relying on winless Malaysia in next month's final round of matches.
"China's dream has almost vanished," the state-run China Sports Daily said on Thursday after one of the blackest days in the team's recent history.
China's slip-up in Kuwait could prove costly to Dutch coach Arie Haan, who had made progress this year until a spate of injuries during the Asian Cup in July and August.
While injuries have played a part, however, Haan has been widely criticised for keeping England-based midfielder Sun Jihai on the bench.
The player's father even called Haan a "blockhead" in a public outburst during the Asian Cup.
Sun invariably had a major impact whenever he came on but Haan stubbornly refused to bow to pressure from the public and Chinese media.
China are no longer in control of their own destiny after slipping to second in Group Four behind Kuwait on goal difference.
Kuwait are two goals better off than China and face the easier task in the final match -- Malaysia at home. China take on Hong Kong.
Only the top team from each of the eight Asian groups advances to next year's final round of qualifiers.
'NOT HOPELESS'
"We don't think the situation is hopeless as we still have one game left," China Football Association (CFA) spokesman Dong Hua said.
"We still have a chance. We will try our best but the players and coaches have done all they can."
China made their first World Cup finals appearance in 2002 but lost all three games and failed to score a single goal under Yugoslav Bora Milutinovic.
Haan has made China more cohesive, injecting the Dutch philosophy of 'total football' into a team that is now less ponderous in attack and harder to break down.
But injuries appear to have seriously hurt China and Haan's plans for 2006.
Missing Everton's Li Tie and captain Li Weifeng, China were beaten 3-1 by Japan in a controversial Asian Cup final in Beijing and struggled to beat Malaysia 1-0 in Penang last month.
Li Weifeng returned for Wednesday's Kuwait match but made little impact on a tentative China team.
Once renowned for crumbling under pressure, China looked a shadow of the team that played the best football at the Asian Cup.
Haan did himself no favours by again refusing to bring on Manchester City's Sun until it was effectively too late to save the game.
More from rediff