Opinion | Uphill task: China begin a long and difficult road to the 2018 Fifa World Cup with a trip to South Korea
China have made their only appearance at the World Cup when their neighbours co-hosted the tournament in 2002 and have won just one of 30 meetings with South Korea
The international break means that there is no Chinese Super League, but having snuck through their World Cup qualification group, China begins the next stage on the road to Russia.
Gao Hongbo has had time to work with his squad after most of them met up after the last round of league fixtures over a week ago, with only the Shandong Luneng and Shanghai SIPG players in action in the AFC Champions League quarter-finals last week.
Interestingly, despite both quarter-finals being played against K-League teams, they won’t provide much in the way of preparation for the game against South Korea on Thursday.
Only one domestic-based player has been selected amongst their 21-man squad and he does not play for either Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors or FC Seoul, the top two in the table and the teams who hold advantage at the halfway stage in both quarter-finals.
Watch: highlights of Shanghai SIPG vs Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Five of the Koreans play in the Super League, with the rest playing in Japan or in European leagues, ample evidence of the strength of South Korean football.