Ping-pong diplomacy may have helped Beijing and Washington normalise diplomatic relations 28 years ago, but yesterday's women's World Cup soccer final between China and the US is unlikely to break the ice between the two countries caused by the Nato bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade in May.
The level of mistrust among ordinary Chinese is evident from mainland media reports in the past week.
The Beijing Morning Post pointed to the exhaustive travel schedule of the Chinese team.
It said that during the tournament the Chinese team flew 20,400km, zigzagging between the East and West coasts four times, compared with just 8,850km flown by the home team.
Another report questioned accommodation arrangements for the Chinese team. It asked why the Chinese team had to stay at the Ambassador Suite Hotel. The report quoted Chinese in Los Angeles as saying the hotel name's association with the word 'embassy' amounted to 'spiritual torture' for the Chinese players, reminding them of the embassy bombing which killed three compatriots.
A Beijing soccer fan who watched the final accused the US hosts of arranging the match in the mid-afternoon on purpose, knowing that the Chinese team had not played any afternoon games before.