China's national men's football team gears up to host Saudi Arabia on Tuesday in an all-important AFC Asian Cup qualifier. A win for the home side will see China punch their ticket for the 2015 showcase in Australia. Thanks to a 1-nil win over Indonesia last Friday, three points against the Saudi’s will ensure China plays for the continental crown.

As they prepare for the Middle Eastern group leaders, China has gotten a boost as left-back Sun Xiang has put his injury problems behind him and is expected to be available. If China is to beat Saudi Arabia though, they will have to overturn a lot of history, as their last win against the side came back in 1997.

China are currently four points up on Iraq for second in the group and should Saudi Arabia prevail Tuesday, and Iraq takes at least a point against Indonesia, the Chinese team will face a four-month wait until their final qualifying game against Iraq.

"For now, the result is more important than the process. If we lose or draw this match, a wonderful process is meaningless for us. The coach has told us we should try our best, no matter how great the Saudi’s are. They came here without any pressure so maybe it is a good opportunity for us to win." Team China Half-Back HuANG Bowen said.

As for group leading Saudi Arabia, they have cruised into the 2015 Asian Cup after a 2-1 win over Iraq on Friday. Saudi Arabia are the three-time winners of the competition and are perfect through four rounds of the group stage as they have continued their run of reaching the finals every year since 1984. Heading into Tuesday’s match against China, the side is keeping things close to the vest however, as their training in the city of Xi’an has been kept closed to the media and the public.