Nine years - that's how long it's been since China made their debut appearance at the World Cup finals, when Bora Milutinovic's team took to the field to face Costa Rica in the South Korean city of Gwangju.
It was an achievement that all but marked the end of an era. With football turning professional in China in 1994, qualifying for the finals eight years later was the logical progression for the world's most popular sport in its most populous nation.
Two years later, China reached the final of the Asian Cup - losing in Beijing to defending champions Japan - but for all intents and purposes that solitary appearance at the World Cup brought to an end the first phase of development for football in China. A new generation was expected to build on the success of their forerunners, but it never turned out that way and for much of the past seven years Chinese football has been at a low ebb, embroiled in match-fixing scandals and controversies so damaging there was a real danger of the sport suffering irreversible damage.
While the country has developed at a phenomenal pace economically and socially over the past decade, football appears to have been in a recession.
Tha could be about to change. As the national side yesterday started their attempt to qualify for the World Cup finals in Brazil, the future of Chinese football was buoyed by news of a significant development.
Real estate giant Wanda has pledged 500 million RMB to help improve the sport, including a significant chunk of the funds being earmarked for youth development as well as sponsoring the Chinese Super League and training referees.