Despite the improving Chinese Super League and its growing number of famous foreign stars, it is a second appearance at the World Cup by its homegrown players that fans in China truly crave. The Chinese Super League's highest-profile stars - such as Alex Teixeira, Hulk and Jackson Martinez - will be of no help when China makes the short journey to the South Korean capital for the opening game in the last round of Asian qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. For China, which made it only World Cup appearance in 2002, the precedents are troubling. More...