So they made it: After 20 years China is back in the final of the Asian Cup where they will play against current champions and archrivals Japan.

The main Chinese sports newspapers are all drooling over the slightly unexpected win over Iran. Titan Sports headlines with 'zheng dian', which literally means 'being on schedule', but also indicates that China's penalty kicks (dian qiu) were successful (zheng).

Underneath the cover photo showing the overjoyed Chinese players, the newspaper Soccer News lets the national team's coach Arie Haan do the tough talking: " In the final we must wipe out Japan". We dig the 'no bullshit' attitude of this stern dutchman, who so far managed to get better results than the over-incensed, media-friendly, cheeky Milu.

On the other side of Asia, Iran's newspaper Tehran Times is obviously not too jolly about the outcome of the semifinal. It titles, "Referee-powered China beat 10-man Iran in semi on penalties". The article blames it heavily on the Lebanese referee who -- three minutes into the second half -- sent Iranian defender Zare off the pitch following a useless push to Shao Jiayi. The Chinese emerging football star didn't miss the precious chance to act like he was stabbed in the throat with a machete.

Anyway, China is finally and royally through. But Japan is going to be a tough opponent. The current champions had to sweat hard yesterday to overthrow Bahrein in a compelling and spectacular match that saw the Japanese side win 4-3 after extra-time.

So a big 'JIA YOU!' to the China team, and - if they cop the cup - let's get ready to see the smiling faces of the Chinese players and their coach advertising all sorts of consumer products all over China for the next year.

Asian Cup 2004 Final,
China - Japan
Saturday, August 7th, 8pm
Beijing Workers Stadium